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AkFftED fcOftP TENNYSON 






TENNYSON'S 
IDYLLS OF THE KING 

THE COMING OF ARTHUR 

GARETH AND LYNETTE 

LANCELOT AxND ELAINE 

GUINEVERE 

THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 



EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY 
W. D. LEWIS, M. A., PRINCIPAL OF THE WILLIAM 
PENN tilGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, PHILADELPHIA 




NEW YORK 
CHARLES E. MERRILL COMPANY 






HforriU'H Engltatf ©rata 

This series of books includes in complete editions those master- 
pieces of English Literature that are best adapted for the use of 
schools and colleges. The editors of the several volumes -are 
chosen for their special qualifications in connection with the texts 
issued under their individual supervision, but familiarity with 
the practical needs of the classroom, no less than sound scholar- 
ship, characterizes the editing of every book in the series. 

In connection with each text, a critical and historical introduc- 
tion, including a sketch of the life of the author and his relation 
to the thought of his time, critical opinions of the work in ques- 
tion chosen from the great body of English criticism, and, where 
possible, a portrait of the author, are given. Ample explanatory 
notes of such passages in the text as call for special attention are 
supplied, but irrelevant annotation and explanations of the ob- 
vious are rigidly excluded. 

CHARLES E. MERRILL COMPANY. 



Copyright, 1911 

BY 

CHARLES E. MERRILL CO. 



CCI.A280585 



i 



n 



t 






CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introduction 5 

Alfred Tennyson ...... 5 

The Arthurian Legend ..... 8 

The Growth of the Idylls . . . 10 

The Verse Structure of the Idylls . . 12 

Teaching the Idylls of the King . . 15 

The Order of the Idylls of the King . 20 

Idylls of the King 23 

The Coming of Arthur . , . 23 

Gareth and Lynette 43 

Lancelot and Elaine ..... 96 

Guinevere «. 148 

The Passing of Arthur ..... 174 

Notes . 193 

Glossary 208 

Questions and Topics for Study . . 213 



INTRODUCTION 

ALFRED TENNYSON 

Biographical details become valuable only when their study 
is prompted by interest in an author's work. Then the litera- 
ture and the man present a unified message, particularly in the 
case of an author like Tennyson, whose life and personality are 
so completely identified with his utterances that a study of the 
man involves thorough acquaintance with his poetry. 

Alfred Tennyson was born in 1809. His parentage and envi- 
ronment were favorable to the training of a literary artist. His 
father was a cultured and scholarly clergyman who gave much 
of his time to the education of his children. Dr. Henry Van 
Dyke says: "The doors of the ideal world were opened to them 
very early ; they were encouraged to imagine as well as to think ; 
they peopled their play-grounds with lofty visions of kings and 
knights, and fought out the world-old battles of right and wrong 
in their childish games, and wove their thoughts of virtue and 
courage and truth into long romances with which they enter- 
tained each other in turn at the dinner-table.' ' 

Under his father's instruction Tennyson became a first rate 
classical scholar. He absorbed from Greek literature a wealth 
of imagery and allusion that is frequently in evidence in his po- 
etry. .More important, probably, was the Greek contribution 
to his unerring feeling for the right effect, in word, phrase, and 
rhythm. To Greek nature worship he added the modern scien- 
tific appreciation of the wonders of the universe. In these early 
years he also became so familiar with Shakespeare, Milton, 
Pope, Goldsmith, Addison, Bunyan, and other great English 

5 




6 INTRODUCTION 

writers that he constantly measured his own art by the best 
standards and drew inspiration from loving companionship with 
the greatest teachers. 

He was continually trying his boyish hand at writing poetry. 
A quotation from the poet himself in the Memoir says: " About 
ten or eleven Pope's Homer's Iliad became a favorite of mine 
and I wrote hundreds and hundreds of lines in the regular Popeian 
metre, nay even could improvise them. ... At about twelve 
and onward I wrote an epic of six thousand lines a la Walter 
Scott. Though the performance was very likely worth nothing, 
I never felt myself more truly inspired." 

In 1828 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. Here he lived 
much with a group of friends called "the Apostles," many of 
whom became distinguished men. In 1829 he won the Chan- 
cellor's prize for a poem entitled "Timbuctoo." He took great 
interest in politics, always sympathizing with the popular party. 
Indeed, so strong a partisan was he that with his friend Hallam 
he made a trip to the Pyrenees' to carry money to a party in re- 
volt against the Spanish government. 

In 1831 his college career was interrupted by the illness of his 
father, whose death a little later placed the care of his mother 
and sister upon him. The family fortune made it possible, how- 
ever, for him to devote himself to poetry, and to these early 
years belong some of his best known poems, including "The 
Lady of Shalott," "The Palace of Art," "The May Queen," and 
"The Lotus Eaters," published in the volume of 1832. 

The death of his friend Arthur Henry Hallam in 1833 was a 
shock that nearly unbalanced his faith. For about ten years he 
produced very little poetry. These were years of mental and 
spiritual adjustment, of careful self -education, and of searching 
self-criticism. His engagement to Emily Sell wood helped to re- 
store his harmony with the order of the universe and furnished 
him with a motive for renewed activity. In 1842 he published 
two volumes which contained many of his best poems. The 
excellence of his work was at once recognized by the reviewers 
and by the great writers of the day. In 1845 he was awarded 



. 



ALFRED TENNYSON 7 

the public recognition of a pension of £200 per annum. The 
publication of The Princess in 1847 and of In Memoriam in 1850 
gave him the assurance of an income that warranted his mar- 
riage to Miss Sellwood, which occurred in June, 1850. Upon the 
death of Wordsworth in the same year he was appointed poet 
laureate. 

From this time to his death in 1892 Tennyson was the most 
prominent figure in English letters. While he was intimate with 
the greatest men of his age, he shunned publicity and hated 
flattery. His modesty was well illustrated by his reluctant ac- 
ceptance of the peerage in 1884 after he had thrice refused the 
honor. His time was spent mostly at his beautiful home, Farring- 
ford, in the Isle of Wight, where he could hear 

"The league-long roller thundering on the reef," 

or at his summer home at Aid worth in Surrey. No author of his 
generation worked more assiduously to give full expression to 
his muse. His greatest works, In Memoriam and The Idylls of 
the King, were the products of many years of the most pains- 
taking workmanship. In everything that he wrote he displayed 
the most consummate art; indeed he may be called the supreme 
artist of our literature. 

Tennyson's personal appearance suggested the inspired bard. 
Thomas Carlyle thus describes him: 

"One of the finest looking men in the world. A great shock of 
rough dusky dark hair; bright, laughing, hazel eyes; massive 
aquiline face, most massive yet most delicate; of sallow brown 
complexion, almost Indian looking, clothes cynically loose, free- 
and-easy, smokes infinite tobacco. His voice is musical, metal- 
lic, fit for loud laughter and piercing wail, and all that may lie 
between; speech and speculation free and plenteous; I do not 
meet in these late decades such company over a pipe! we shall 
see what he will grow to." 



INTRODUCTION 



THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND 

Although they have much in common with the mythological 
hero-tales of Greece and Rome, there is probably a historical basis 
for the legends of Arthur and his Round Table. Beyond the fact, 
however, that the hero was a leader of the Celtic tribes who beat 
back the Saxon invaders early in the sixth century, the investiga- 
tor finds little that is authentic. In his scholarly study, The 
Growth of the Idylls of the King, Dr. Richard Jones says : 

"But the struggle with the Teutonic invaders, however bravely 
and desperately fought, was in vain. As the cause of the highly- 
gifted, imaginative Celt became more and more hopelessly crushed 
in conflict with the kinsmen of the conquerors of Rome, he found 
solace in song for the hard facts of life. He won in the fields of 
imagination the victories denied him on the field of battle, and 
he clustered these triumphs against the enemies of his race about 
the name and the person of the magnanimous Arthur. By the 
Norman conquest of England the heart of the Celtic world was 
profoundly stirred. Ancient memories awoke, and, yearning for 
the restoration of British greatness, men rehearsed the deeds of 
him who had been king, and of whom it was prophesied that he 
should be king hereafter. 

" Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote about 1132-35 A. D. (Ten 
Brink) a history of Britain in Latin, a book which, whatever its 
faults as a history, was an epoch-making book, because, though 
it did not originate the Arthur legends, it yet made them radiant 
with poetic coloring, and thus contributed toward making them 
that which they soon became, the common property of Europe. 
Geoffrey's book, still characterized as a work of genius and of 
imagination, is the source of a stream of poetry that flows to our 
day. It was forthwith translated into French by Wace, who 
added the story of the Round Table. Within a generation or 
two innumerable versions, into which had been woven the legend 
of the Holy Grail, appeared among the principal nations of Eu- 
rope, two of the more prominent writers being Chrestien de 



THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND 9 

Troyes in France, and in Germany Wolfram von Eschenbach 
with his 'Parzival,' later the theme of Wagner's greatest opera." 

The wandering minstrels did much to spread these legends and 
to give them infinite variety of form. In their hands they came 
to represent the varying ideals of different peoples and of succes- 
sive ages. Their influence is thus explained by Ten Brink in his 
History of English Literature: 

"But herein lies the essential difference between that age and 
our own : the result of poetical activity was not the property and 
not the production of a single person, but of the community. The 
work of the individual singer endured only as long as its delivery 
lasted. He gained personal distinction only as a virtuoso. The 
permanent elements of what he presented, the material, the 
ideas, even the style and metre, already existed. The work of the 
singer was only a ripple in the stream of national poetry. Who 
can say how much the individual contributed to it, or where in 
his poetical recitation memory ceased and creative impulse began! 
In any case the work of the individual lived on only as the ideal 
possession of the aggregate body of the people, and it soon lost 
the stamp of originality." 

Happily it is not our problem to trace the variations of these 
stories, nor to classify the various cycles of legend that in time 
entered into the complete mass. One element fliat had great in- 
fluence in giving these romances increased popularity and added 
dignity was the introduction of the legend of the Holy Grail. 
Tennyson makes the«Holy Grail — 

"The cup, the cup itself, from which our Lord 
Drank at the last sad supper with his own;" 

although some other versions make it "the dish which held the 
paschal lamb at the Last Supper," or "the vessel in which Joseph 
of Arimathea had received the Savior's blood." In any case it 
represented the doctrine of transubstantiation, and, becoming a 
part of a popular tradition, it served as a means of doctrinal 
teaching. The legends accordingly received the sanction of the 
church, "whose spiritual rulers made the minstrel doubly wel- 
come when celebrating this theme." 



10 INTRODUCTION 

During successive ages, the great mine of poetic material 
formed by these tales has furnished suggestion and inspiration 
to the poets of many lands who have transmuted its ores into 
the precious metals of their genius. Dante, Spenser, Shake- 
speare, Milton, Dryden, Scott, Wordsworth, Swinburne, Lowell, 
and many others have treated themes drawn from this source. 

The most important compilation of these legends is that of Sir 
Thomas Malory, entitled Morte Darthur, which was first published 
in 1485. To this book Tennyson was chiefly indebted, although 
his version of the stories varies widely from the original. Indeed, 
it may be said that like the ancient bards, Tennyson has adapted 
the legends to his own day, so that we have a sixth-century his- 
torical setting, a mediaeval chivalry, and nineteenth-century social 
ideals. 

THE GROWTH OF THE IDYLLS 

The growth of the Idylls in the poet's mind was not unlike 
their original development. Early in life he was fascinated by 
Malory's book, and throughout one of the longest of modern 
literary careers, "what he called 'the greatest of all poetical sub- 
jects' perpetually haunted him." His first poem growing out of 
this interest is "The Lady of Shalott," published in 1832, a fore- 
shadowing of "Lancelot and Elaine." 

The volume of his poems published ten years later bore evi- 
dence of his continued interest in the Arthurian romances in the 
poems, "Sir Galahad," " Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere," 
and "Morte d' Arthur," the last of which forms a part of the 
present poem, "The Passing of Arthur." The first edition of 
The Idylls of the King appeared in 1859, containing "Enid," 
"Vivien," "Elaine," and "Guinevere." In 1869 were published 
four more of the Idylls, "The Coming of Arthur," "The Holy 
Grail," "Pelleas and Ettarre," and "The Passing of Arthur," 
and in 1872, "Gareth and Lynette " and "The Last Tournament." 
In 1885 "Balin and Balan" was added. .The division of "Enid" 
into "The Marriage of Geraint" and "Geraint and Enid" com- 






THE GROWTH OF THE IDYLLS 11 

pletes the cycle of twelve poems. The " Dedication" to the 
Prince Consort was published in 1862, and the epilogue "To the 
Queen," in 1873. Thus the complete epic grew: a part that now 
comes last appeared first, and other parts appeared at irregular 
intervals in much the promiscuous manner of the original legends. 

The record of their publication shows the growth of the cycle 
of poems in the author's mind. The Memoir contains this quo- 
tation from the poet: "The vision of Arthur as I have drawn 
him had come upon me when, little more than a boy, I lighted on 
Malory." It was not until 1855 that the poet decided on their 
final form. The changes in text so carefully collated by Professor 
Jones in his book quoted on page 8 show the gradual evolution of 
the poet's plan through a lifetime of study and inspiration. 

In their final form the Idylls are complete in action and uni- 
fied in theme.- They present a moral epic full of profound spirit- 
ual truth. yThe noble plan of Arthur's kingdom, founded on the 
highest ideals of social service, the portrayal of its triumphant 
righteousness in "Gareth and Lynette," the gradual demorali- 
zation of the purpose of Arthur's life through the sin of Lancelot 
and the Queen, down to the "Tournament of the Dead Inno- 
cence" where the false Lancelot sits in Arthur's chair to award 
the prize to the shameless Tristram amid a throng that in spirit- 
ual gloom acknowledges that the day of Innocence is past, — all 
this is told with profound insight into the fundamental laws of 
social structure and of individual character. 

If the dramatic ending is tragic, it is illumined by spiritual hope. 
Lancelot, who never ceased to battle against the guilty love that 
"marr'd his face and mark'd it ere his time," dies a "holy man;" 
and the beautiful Queen responds to the powers that tend the 
soul, fortifies herself with the hope that in her own heart she 
can live down sin, and passes 

"To where beyond these voices there is peace." 

Arthur himself fails to find God in his ways with men, but real- 
izes that our human vision is dim 

"Perchance because we see not to the close." 



12 INTRODUCTION 

And after reading the marvelous poetry describing the last, dim, 
weird battle in the death-white mist, it is with a sense of human 
triumph that we watch the lessening barge as it bears him — 

"To the island-valley of Avilion; 
Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, 
Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies 
Deep-meadow' d, happy, fair with orchard lawns 
And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea." 



THE VERSE STRUCTURE OF THE IDYLLS 

Like many great English poems The Idylls of the King are 
written in blank verse, or^nrimed iambic pentameter. In their 
peculiar delicacy, in their responsiveness to every mood, and in 
their subtle harmony of sound with movement and emotion, they 
have a distinct individuality. Of Tennyson's blank verse in 
these poems, Stopford Brooke says: "It is, as a vehicle of thought 
and emotion, entirely at the poet's command. He can make it 
do exactly what he likes. It has, at his choice, ease and rapidity, 
or slow and stately movement, or it echoes in its sound the 
thought, the scene, or the thing. It is by turns loud or low, soft 
or rough in spirit, fluid or rigid, abrupt, delayed, smooth, con- 
tinuous, weighty and light." 

The regular meter of the Idylls is iambic pentameter, or a 
verse consisting of five two-syllable feet, each foot an iambus, 
one composed of an unaccented followed by an accented syllable. 
The ordinary verse in this meter is scanned as follows: l 

Then rose'/Elaine'/ and glid'/ed thro'7 the fields', 
And past'/ beneath'/ the weird '/ly-sculp'/tured gates' 

L. E., 838-839. 

This meter is regular, the accent falling on each alternate 
syllable, beginning with the second. Tennyson varies from this 
standard form in many ways throughout the poems. It is not 

1 It cannot be too strongly insisted that the classification of vowels into 
long and short has absolutely nothing to do with stress in scansion. Vowels 
not marked are unaccented. 






VERSE STRUCTURE OF THE IDYLLS 13 

worth while to classify these changes. We may note, however, 
that he uses the following seven kinds of feet in addition to the 
iambus: the trochee, sl foot of two syllables, the first of which is 
accented; the spondee, two syllables, both accented; the pyrrhic, 
two syllables, neither accented; the dactyl, three syllables, the 
first accented; the anapest, three syllables, the last accented; the 
amphibrach, three syllables, the second accented; and the am- 
phimacer, three syllables, the first and the last accented. 

A few illustrations may assist in cultivating a ready response 
to the poet's marvelous harmony of sound, sense, and emotion. 

We feel Gareth's hesitation in 

Gar'eth / awhile'/ lin'ger'd. / The moth'/er's eye' 

G. L., 169. 

There is a similar feeling in 

Down' the/ long' tow'/er stairs'/ hes'i/tat'ing. 

L. E.,341. 

Movement is wonderfully expressed in many passages, for 
example: 

Set lanceV in rest// strike' spur// sud'den/ly move/ 
Meet/ in/ the midst// and there'/ so fu'ri/ously 
Shock/ that/ a man'/ far-off'/ might well'/ perceive/ 
If an'/y man'/ that day'/ were left'/ afield/ 
The hard'/ earth' shake// and a/ low' thun'/der of arms.' 

L. E., 454-458. 

The deliberate preparation in the first line of this passage; the 
sharp decisive action in the two monosyllables of the spondee, 
strike spur; the forward lurch of the horses in the succeeding 
trochee and iambus, suddenly move; the apprehension in the first 
of the next line, Meet in the midst; the flutter in the pyrrhic at 
the end of this line; and the climax on the heavy stroke in the 
Shock at the beginning of the third line, — all contribute to an ex- 
pressiveness that would give some sense of the action if the passage 
were well read to one entirely ignorant of English. With a rapid 
turn, the point of view is shifted and the first three stressed 
syllables of the last line, followed by the two successive strokes 



14 INTRODUCTION 

on the long vowels in low thunder, make us feel and hear the con- 
flict as if from a distance. 

Without further comment, the following lines may be taken 
as examples of the poet's skill in shifting emphasis, harmonizing 
sound with thought, or subtly suggesting an emotion that can- 
not be expressed in words: 

but when the prince 
Three' times'/ had blown'/ — after/long' hush'/ — at last' 

G. L., 1343. 
And the/ long' glo'/ries of/ the win'/ter moon.' 

P. A., 360. 
Like this'/ last,' dim,'/ weird' bat '/tie of/ the west,' 

P. A., 93. 
The bare'/ black' cliffs'/ clang'd' round'/ him, as'/ he based.' 

P. A., 356. 
Immin'/gled with Heav'/en's az'/ure wa'/veringly,' 

G. L., 914. 
Mut'tering/ and mur'/muring at'/ his ear,'/ " Quick,' quick!"' 

P. A., 347. 
So strode' he/ back' slow'/ to the wound'/ed King' 

P. A., 233. 
Fled' like/ a glit'ter/ing riv'/ulet/ to the tarn' 

L. E., 52. 
Hear'est/ thou' this'/ great' voice'/ that shakes'/ the world,' 

P. A., 139. 
Clang' bat'/tle-axe/ and clash'/ brand!' / Let the/ King' reign.' 

C. A., 492. 



REFERENCES 



Hallam Tennyson: Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir. 

Henry Van Dyke: The Poetry of Tennyson. 

Stopford Brooke: Tennyson, His Art and Relation to Modern Life. 

Edward Campbell Tanish: A Study of the Works of Tennyson. 

Richard Jones : The Growth of the Idylls of the King. 

Conde" Benoist Pallen: The Meaning of the Idylls of the King. 

Henry Ellesdale : Studies in the Idylls of the King. 

Harold Littledale: Essays on Lord Tennyson 1 s Idylls of the King. 

M. W. MacCallum: Tennyson 1 s Idylls of the King. 

Sir Edward Strachey: Malory's Morte D'arthur, Globe Edition. 






TEACHING THE IDYLLS OF THE KING 

The Idylls in the High School. In the entire range of our rich 
and varied literature there is nothing better fitted to serve the 
purposes of literary study in the high school than Tennyson's 
Idylls of the King. ' The youthful love of heroism and romance 
finds kindred spirits in Gareth and Lynette; the awakening eth- 
ical sense recognizes ideals of surpassing elevation and purity in 
Arthur and Elaine; and the growing consciousness of the never- 
ceasing warfare between right and wrong sympathizes with the 
soul-struggle of Lancelot and the beautiful Queen. The raptur- 
ous music of our mightiest lyrist commands ready response in 
the quick, joyous ear of youth, and the inspirational power of 
an intensely human story told in almost faultless verse contrib- 
utes to the slow, unconscious process of cultivating literary ap- 
preciation. 

" Guinevere " Necessary. If the story is to be told so as to 
bring out its full ethical and spiritual content, the Idyll "Guine- 
vere " must* be studied. Without it, not only is the plot incom- 
plete, but also the treatment of the theme is lacking in its deepest 
import and its most profound spiritual truth. Nowhere else in 
the Idylls is there more enchanting music or more penetrating 
insight into human life and character. It is the keystone of the 
plot, and the climax of the theme. 

The Theme of the Idylls. In " Gareth and Lynette" Tenny- 
son hints that the theme is 

"The war of Time against the soul of man." 

Again in the "Epilogue to the Queen" he saye, 

" accept this old imperfect tale, 
New-old, and shadowing Sense at war with Soul." 

15 



16 INTRODUCTION 

Elsewhere the poet saidf^The whole is a dream of a man com- 
ing into practical life and ruined by one sin." The specific form 
of this warfare is found in the growth of the guilty love between 
Lancelot and Guinevere, and in its effect upon the structure of 
the ideal society upon whose perpetuity depended all the proj- 
ects of the King. In a generalized form it may be said that the 
theme is the effect upon society of sin in high place. Throughout 
the study, this theme and its relation to the various poems should 
be kept in mind. In the notes prefixed to the text on " Lancelot 
and Elaine/' "Gareth and Lynette," and " Guinevere," is dis- 
cussed briefly the relation of each of these poems to the theme, 
and the development of the theme in those of the Idylls not in- 
cluded in the present edition. It is greatly to be desired that the 
pupils may read the entire twelve poems with this development 
in mind. 

The Allegory. In contrast with the theme, which is essential 
to any intelligent study of the Idylls, stands the allegory, which is 
generally confusing. In a few instances, such as in the passage 
describing the Lady of the Lake in " Gareth and Lynette/' 210, ff., 
and the Hermit's cave, 1166, ff., some attention to the alle- 
gory is necessary. But any attempt to make the leading charac- 
ters other than real flesh and blood will in most cases dim the 
glamor of the poetry into the light of common day. There is 
unquestionably a moral and spiritual lesson in all great literature, 
but this lesson must be taught by its portrayal of typical condi- 
tions in which the reader recognizes his own real or potential 
merits and defects, rather than by preachy moralizing. 

Aims of Studying the Idylls. It is coming to be generally rec- 
ognized that the study of literature has a much higher aim than to 
impart mere information. Less and less attention is being paid to 
details of the author's life, sources of the plot, obscure allusions, 
and rhetorical classifications. Study of the literature itself for the| 
development of a discriminating appreciation of the best books has 
taken the place of abstruse lectures and voluminous commenta- 
ries. Like other elements of our modern curriculum, literature is 
taking its place as a vital force in shaping the lives of our youth. 






TEACHING THE IDYLLS 17 

Proper study of such literature as the Idylls should lessen the 
number of young people who pass through the great awakening 
period of adolescence without apparently seeing any of the 
deeper problems of life, or coming to a fuller appreciation of 
their own personality and its responsibilities. If, in addition 
to this, these masterpieces are to contribute anything to the real 
education of the boys and girls studying them, that contribution 
will consist in the attitude toward similar literature that comes 
from what Professor Hiram Corson terms "the assimilation of 
the informing life of these works of genius." This is a slow 
process, like the mysterious city of Camelot, 

" built 
To music, therefore never built at all, 
And therefore built forever." 

In his charming little volume, The Aims of Literary Study y 

Professor Corson says: " Literature is not a mere knowledge 

subject as the word knowledge is usually understood, namely, that 

with which the discursive, formulating intellect has to do. But 

it is a knowledge subject (only that and nothing more) if that 

j higher form of knowledge be meant, which is quite outside of 

/ the domain of the intellect — a knowledge which is a matter of 

J spiritual consciousness and which the intellect cannot translate 

■ into judgment." 

It follows, then, that the excellence of the instruction in these 
poems must depend largely upon the teacher's absorption of their 
music and of their spiritual truth, and upon her inspirational 
power to arouse a ready response to these essential elements. 

Methods. Probably the most valuable single element in teach- 
ing these poems is the sympathetic reading of the teacher. Her 
interpretation will be a model for the pupils' reading and it will 
illumine the fine passages as they can be illumined by no amount 
of discussion. Discussion may interpret the thought, but the 
oral reading will bring a response to that subtle union of sound, 
sense, and emotion that is so large an element in poetry. She 
should encourage the pupils to read aloud at home in preparing 
their lessons, and she should test the thoroughness of this prep- 



18 INTRODUCTION 

aration by the sympathy and power of their oral reading in 
class. Written examinations will to some extent test the amount 
of external knowledge a pupil may have of a poem, but they will 
never test his absorption of its " informing life" as will his oral 
interpretation. 

The oral reading will furnish pupils with an answer to one ques- 
tion that should be a part of each day's recitation, "What are 
the fine lines in to-day's lesson?" These lines should be marked, 
and a large number of those which particularly appeal to each 
individual should be memorized, in addition to a few of the finest 
passages prescribed by the teacher. 

The method of memorizing is quite as important as the fact. 
If pupils will read aloud the passages selected, once or twice a 
day for a couple of weeks, they will find that they have uncon- 
sciously mastered them. Moreover, the passages so memorized 
will have become a permanent possession; while if they are learned 
in shorter sections in a single day, they will be retained little 
later than the examination. The reason for this is obvious. Not 
only does the ear as well as the eye help to make the impression 
permanent, but more important still, the muscular memory is 
enlisted for the same end in the form of reflex action of the vocal 
organs. When the passages that particularly appeal to the pupil 
have been memorized in this way, the process of absorption and 
of appreciative literary culture has been begun. 

The notes at the back of the book are given in the hope that 
they may contribute to the understanding of necessary details 
and that they may suggest helpful lines of discussion. Among 
these notes are frequent questions on syntax. These are given 
only where the answer will be of value in making the meaning 
clear, — never for merely grammatical purposes. All of this 
material, however, need occupy very little of the class time. 
An occasional written test of ten minutes, given without previous 
warning, will be likely to insure the mastery of these details, 
and will leave the valuable class-time free for reading and for 
discussion of the real teaching points in the literature. Through- 
out the notes there are suggestive questions that emphasize the 



TEACHING THE IDYLLS 19 

most important topics dealing with human life and character. 
The study of these questions, as well as of those arising in class, 
will encourage pupils to make their own individual comments, 
and will thus call out much spontaneity and originality. 

There is great danger that exhaustive attention to voluminous 
notes may emphasize the wrong motive for study of literature, 
particularly of poetry, where the real value is in the spirit rather 
than the letter. Worse even than excessive study of notes is 
the practice, now happily disappearing, of reproducing the story 
as part of the theme work of the class. This is specially un- 
fortunate in the study of the higher type of poetry. A glorious 
tale told in glorious verse becomes as bald and prosaic as the 
solution of a problem in algebra when reproduced in the stilted, 
commonplace English of a high school composition. This treat- 
ment of such poetry as The Idylls of the King destroys "the con- 
secration and the poet's dream" that the child has a right to 
realize. 

Perhaps the most difficult as well as the most essential task 
for the young teacher of English fresh from college or university 
training is to leave the ideals of the seminar and get the point 
of view of the high school student. For our boys and girls, crit- 
ical study is undesirable as well as impossible. For the teacher, 
it is highly desirable if viewed in its right perspective. It would 
be fortunate for both teachers and pupils if they could apply the 
principles stated in the following passage from Littledale's Essays 
on Lord Tennyson' s Idylls of the King: 

"Critical study of an author is very well in its way, and useful 
as a preparation for the appreciation of a poem. But it is only 
truly useful in the sense that a study of the sciences helps our 
appreciation of the works of the Creator. Such learning is a 
means and not the end. We must look at nature with direct 
eyes, and not through the medium of books, if we would commune 
with the spirit of nature; and we must read poetry, not for the 
sake of the particles of literary dust that adhere to it, but for its 
own sake, and for the poet's sake, sincerely and sympathetically. 
Only by doing so can we really bring our own small hearts into 



20 INTRODUCTION 

contact with the large heart of the poet. Only thus can a great 
poem like The Idylls of the King become to us 'the precious life- 
blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose 
to a life beyond life.'" 

The teacher must often feel that it is a hopeless task in any 
adequate way to interpret the matchless beauty of these poems. 
Only by long and loving companionship can there be a full 
response to their harmonies. Only in a classroom attuned to 
the sweeter music of the spirit can the teacher help along the 
process of absorption. Even then she will be painfully conscious 
of the fact that there is no human means of measuring the results 
of her efforts. If her work bears fruit in a deeper resourcefulness 
of spirit, in a readier response to truth and beauty, it will not 
have been done in vain. 



THE ORDER OF THE IDYLLS OF THE KING 

The Coming of Arthur 
Gareth and Lynette 
The Marriage of Geraint 
Geraint and Enid 
Balin and Balan 
Merlin and Vivien 
Lancelot and Elaine 
The Holy Grail 
Pelleas and Ettarre 
The Last Tournament 
Guinevere 
The Passing of Arthur 



IDYLLS OF THE KING 



IDYLLS OF THE KING 

THE COMING OF ARTHUR 

The first of the Idylls, "The Coming of Arthur," is founded 
on Malory's Morte Darthur, but like all of the poems it varies 
widely from the original. It deals with the birth of the King, 
the establishment of his rule, his war with the revolting petty 
kings who question his right to the throne, his marriage with 
Guinevere, and the establishment of the Order of the Table 
Round. 

Leodogran, the king of Cameliard, 
Had on6 fair daughter, and none other child; 
And she was fairest of all flesh on earth, 
Guinevere, and in her his one delight. 

For many a petty king ere Arthur came 5 

Ruled in this isle and, ever waging war 
Each upon other, wasted all the land; 
And still from time to time the heathen host 
Swarm'd over-seas, and harried what was left. 
And so there grew great tracts of wilderness, 10 

Wherein the beast was ever more and more, 
But man was less and less, till Arthur came. 
For first Aurelius lived and fought and died, 
And after him King Uther fought and died, 

23 



24 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

But either fail'd to make the kingdom one. 15 

And after these King Arthur for a space, 

And thro' the puissance of his Table Round, 

Drew all their petty princedoms under him, 

Their king and head, and made a realm and reign'd. 

And thus the land of Cameliard was waste, 20 

Thick with wet woods, and many a beast therein, 
And none or few to scare or chase the beast; 
So that wild dog and wolf and boar and bear 
Came night and day, and rooted in the fields, 
And wallow'd in the gardens of the King. 25 

And ever and anon the wolf would steal 
The children and devour, but now and then, 
Her own brood lost or dead, lent her fierce teat 
To human sucklings; and the children, housed 
In her foul den, there at their meat would growl, 30 
And mock their foster-mother on four feet, 
Till, straighten'd, they grew up to wolf-like men, 
Worse than the wolves. And King Leodogran 
Groan' d for the Roman legions here again 
And Caesar's eagle : then his brother king, 35 

Urien, assaiPd him: last a heathen horde, 
Reddening the sun with smoke and earth with blood, 
And on the spike that split the mother's heart 
Spitting the child, brake on him, till, amazed, 
He knew not whither he should turn for aid. 40 

But — for he heard of Arthur newly crown'd, 
Tho' not without an uproar made by those 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 25 

Who cried, "He is not Uther's son" — the King 

Sent to him, saying, "Arise, and help us thou! 

For here between the man and beast we die." 45 

And Arthur yet had done no deed of arms, 
But heard the call and came: and Guinevere 
Stood by the castle walls to watch him pass; 
But since he neither wore on helm or shield 
The golden symbol of his kinglihood, 50 

But rode a simple knight among his knights, 
And many of these in richer arms than he, 
She saw him not, or mark'd not, if she saw, 
One among many, tho' his face was bare. 
But Arthur, looking downward as he past, 55 

Felt the light of her eyes into his life 
Smite on the sudden, yet rode on, and pitch'd 
His tents beside the forest. Then he drave 
The heathen; after, slew the beast, and felPd 
The forest, letting in the sun, and made 60 

Broad pathways for the hunter and the knight, 
And so return' d. 

For while he linger'd there, 
A doubt that ever smoulder'd in the hearts 
Of those great lords and barons of his realm 
Flash'd forth and into war; for most of these, 65 

Colleaguing with a score of petty kings, 
Made head against him, crying: "Who is he 
That he should rule us? who hath proven him 
King Uther's son? for lo! we look at him, 



26 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And find nor face nor bearing, limbs nor voice, 70 

Are like to those of Uther whom we knew. 
This is the son of Gorlois, not the King; 
This is the son of Anton, not the King." 

And Arthur, passing thence to battle, felt 
Travail, and throes and agonies of the life, 75 

Desiring to be join'd with Guinevere, 
And thinking as he rode: "Her father said 
That there between the man and beast they die. 
Shall I not lift her from this land of beasts 
Up to my throne and side by side with me? so 

What happiness to reign a lonely king, 
Vext — ye stars that shudder over me, 

earth that soundest hollow under me, 

Vext with waste dreams? for saving I be join'd 

To her that is the fairest under heaven, 85 

1 seem as nothing in the mighty world, 
And cannot will my will nor work my work 
Wholly, nor make myself in mine own realm 
Victor and lord. But were I join'd with her, 

Then might we live together as one life, 90 

And reigning with one will in everything 
Have power on this dark land to lighten it, 
And power on this dead world to make it live." 

Thereafter — as he speaks who tells the tale — 
When Arthur reached a field of battle bright 95 

With pitch'd pavilions of his foe, the world 
Was all so clear about him that he saw 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 27 

The smallest rock far on the faintest hill, 

And even in high day the morning star. 

So when the King had set his banner broad, 100 

At once from either side, with trumpet-blast, 

And shouts, and clarions shrilling unto blood, 

The long-lanced battle let their horses run. 

And now the barons and the kings prevaiFd, 

And now the King, as here and there that war 105 

Went swaying; but the Powers who walk the world 

Made lightnings and great thunders over him, 

And dazed all eyes, till Arthur by main might, 

And mightier of his hands with every blow, 

And leading all his knighthood threw the kings 110 

Carados, Urien, Cradlemont of Wales, 

Claudius, and Clariance of Northumberland, 

The King Brandagoras of Latangor, 

With Anguisant of Erin, Morganore, 

And Lot of Orkney. Then, before a voice 115 

As dreadful as the shout of one who sees 

To one who sins, and deems himself alone 

And all the world asleep, they swerved and brake 

Flying, and Arthur calPd to stay the brands 

That hacked among the flyers, "Ho! they yield !" 120 

So like a painted battle the war stood 

Silenced, the living quiet as the dead, 

And in the heart of Arthur joy was lord. 

He laugh' d upon his warrior whom he loved 

And honor'd most. "Thou dost not doubt me King, 

So well thine arm hath wrought for me to-day.' ' 126 

"Sir and my liege," he cried, "the fire of God 



28 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Descends upon thee in the battle-field : 

I know thee for my King!" Whereat the two, 

For each had warded either in the fight, 130 

Sware on the field of death a deathless love. 

And Arthur said, " Man's word is God in man: 

Let chance what will, I trust thee to the death." 

Then quickly from the foughten field he sent 
Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere, 135 

His new-made knights, to King Leodogran, 
Saying, "If I in aught have served thee well, 
Give me thy daughter Guinevere to wife." 

Whom when he heard, Leodogran in heart 
Debating — "How should I that am a king, ho 

However much he holp me at my need, 
Give my one daughter saving to a king, 
And a king's son?" — lifted his voice, and calPd 
A hoary man, his chamberlain, to whom 
He trusted all things, and of him required 145 

His counsel : " Knowest thou aught of Arthur's birth? " 

Then spake the hoary chamberlain and said: 
"Sir King, there be but two old men that know; 
And each is twice as old as I : and one 
Is Merlin, the wise man that ever served 150 

King Uther thro' his magic art; and one 
Is Merlin's master — so they call him — Bleys, 
Who taught him magic; but the scholar ran 
Before the master, and so far that Bleys 






THE COMING OF ARTHUR 29 

Laid magic by, and sat him down, and wrote 155 

All things and whatsoever Merlin did 

In one great annal-book, where after-years 

Will learn the secret of our Arthur's birth/ ' 

To whom the King Leodogran replied : 
"0 friend, had I been holpen half as well 160 

By this King Arthur as by thee to-day, 
Then beast and man had had their share of me; 
But summon here before us yet once more 
Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere." 

Then, when they came before him, the King said: 165 
"I have seen the cuckoo chased by lesser fowl, 
And reason in the chase; but wherefore now 
Do these your lords stir up the heat of war, 
Some calling Arthur born of Gorlois, 
Others of Anton? Tell me, ye yourselves, 170 

Hold ye this Arthur for King Uther's son?" 

And Ulfius and Brastias answer'd, "Ay." 
Then Bedivere, the first of all his knights 
Knighted by Arthur at his crowning, spake — 
For bold in heart and act and word was he, 175 

Whenever slander breathed against the King — 

"Sir, there be many rumors on this head: 
For there be those who hate him in their hearts, 
Call him baseborn, and since his ways are sweet, 
And theirs are bestial, hold him less than man; iso 



30 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And there be those who deem him more than man, 

And dream he dropt from heaven: but my belief 

In all this matter — so ye care to learn — 

Sir, for ye know that in King Uther's time 

The prince and warrior Gorlois, he that held 185 

Tintagil castle by the Cornish sea, 

Was wedded with a winsome wife, Ygerne; 

And daughters had she borne him, — one whereof, 

Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent, 

Hath ever like a loyal sister cleaved 190 

To Arthur, — but a son she had not borne. 

And Uther cast upon her eyes of love; 

But she, a stainless wife to Gorlois, 

So loathed the bright dishonor of his love 

That Gorlois and King Uther went to war, 195 

And overthrown was Gorlois and slain. 

Then Uther in his wrath and heat besieged 

Ygerne within Tintagil, where her men, 

Seeing the mighty swarm about their walls, 

Left her and fled, and Uther enter d in, 200 

And there was none to call to but himself. 

So, compass'd by the power of the King, 

Enforced she was to wed him in her tears, 

And with a shameful swiftness; afterward, 

Not many moons, King Uther died himself, 205 

Moaning and wailing for an heir to rule 

After him, lest the realm should go to wrack. 

And that same night, the night of the new year, 

By reason of the bitterness and grief 

That vext his mother, all before his time 210 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 31 

Was Arthur born, and all as soon as born 

Deliver 7 d at a secret postern-gate 

To Merlin, to be holden far apart 

Until his hour should come; because the lords 

Of that fierce day were as the lords of this, 215 

Wild beasts, and surely would have torn the child 

Piecemeal among them, had they known; for each 

But sought to rule for his own self and hand, 

And many hated Uther for the sake 

Of Gorlois. Wherefore Merlin took the child, 220 

And gave him to Sir Anton, an old knight 

And ancient friend of Uther; and his wife 

Nursed the young prince, and rear'd him with her own; 

And no man knew. And ever since the lords 

Have foughten like wild beasts among themselves, 225 

So that the realm has gone to wrack; but now, 

This year, when Merlin — for his hour had come — 

Brought Arthur forth, and set him in the hall, 

Proclaiming, 'Here is Uther's heir, your king/ 

A hundred voices cried: 'Away with him! 230 

No king of ours! a son of Gorlois he; 

Or else the child of Anton, and no king, 

Or else baseborn.' Yet Merlin thro' his craft, 

And while the people clamor'd for a king, 

Had Arthur crown'd; but after, the great lords 235 

Banded, and so brake out in open war." 

Then while the King debated with himself 
If Arthur were the child of shamefulness, 
Or born the son of Gorlois after death, 



32 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Or Uther's son and born before his time, 240 

Or whether there were truth in anything 
Said by these three, there came to Cameliard, 
With Gawain and young Modrecl, her two sons, 
Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent; 
Whom as he could, not as he would, the King 
Made feast for, saying, as they sat at meat: 
"A doubtful throne is ice on summer seas. 
Ye come from Arthur's court. Victor his men 
Report him! Yea, but ye — think ye this king — 
So many those that hate him, and so strong, 250 

So few Tiis knights, however brave they be — 
Hath body enow to hold his foemen down?" 

"0 King," she cried, "and I will tell thee: few, 
Few, but all brave, all of one mind with him; 
For I was near him when the savage yells 255 

Of Uther's peerage died, and Arthur sat 
Crowned on the dais, and his warriors cried, 
1 Be thou the king, and we will work thy will 
Who love thee.' Then the King in low deep tones, 
And simple words of great authority, 260 

Bound them by so strait vows to his own self 
That when they rose, knighted from kneeling, some 
Were pale as at the passing of a ghost, 
Some flush'd, and others dazed, as one who wakes 
Half-blinded at the coming of a light. 265 

"But when he spake, and cheer'd his Table Round 
With large, divine, and comfortable words, 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 33 

Beyond my tongue to tell thee — I beheld 

From eye to eye thro' all their Order flash 

A momentary likeness of the King; 270 

And ere it left their faces, thro' the cross 

And those around it and the Crucified, 

Down from the casement over Arthur, smote 

Flame-color, vert, and azure, in three rays, 

One falling upon each of three fair queens 275 

Who stood in silence near his throne, the friends 

Of Arthur, gazing on him, tall, with bright 

Sweet faces, who will help him at his need. 

"And there I saw mage Merlin, whose vast wit 
And hundred winters are but as the hands 280 

Of loyal vassals toiling for their liege. 

"And near him stood the Lady of the Lake, 
Who knows a subtler magic than his own — 
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful. 
She gave the King his huge cross-hilted sword*, 28.5 

Whereby to drive the heathen out : a mist 
Of incense curl'd about her, and her face 
Wellnigh was hidden in the minster gloom; 
But there was heard among the holy hymns 
A voice as of the waters, for she dwells 290 

Down in a deep — calm, whatsoever storms 
May shake the world — and when the surface rolls, 
Hath power to walk the waters like our Lord. 

"There likewise I beheld Excalibur 
Before him at his crowning borne, the sword 295 



34 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

That rose from out the bosom of the lake, 

And Arthur row'd across and took it — rich 

With jewels, elfin Urim, on the hilt, 

Bewildering heart and eye — the blade so bright 

That men are blinded by it — on one side, 300 

Graven in the oldest tongue of all this world, 

'Take me/ but turn the blade and ye shall see, 

And written in the speech ye speak yourself, 

'Cast me away!' And sad was Arthur's face 

Taking it, but old Merlin counsell'd him, 305 

' Take thou and strike ! the time to cast away 

Is yet far-off.' So this great brand the king 

Took, and by this will beat his foemen down." 

Thereat Leodogran rejoiced, but thought 
To sift his doubtings to the last, and ask'd, 310 

Fixing full eyes of question on her face, 
"The swallow and the swift are near akin, 
But thou art closer to this noble prince, 
Being his own dear sister"; and she said, 
"Daughter of Gorlois and Ygerne am I"; 315 

"And therefore Arthur's sister?" ask'd the King. 
She answer'd, "These be secret things," and sign'd 
To those two sons to pass, and let them be. 
And Gawain went, and breaking into song 
Sprang out, and follow'd by his flying hair 320 

Ran like a colt, and leapt at all he saw; 
But Modred laid his ear beside the doors, 
And there half-heard — the same that afterward 
Struck for the throne, and striking found his doom. 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 35 

And then the Queen made answer: "What know I? 
For dark my mother was in eyes and hair, 326 

And dark in hair and eyes am I ; and dark 
Was Gorlo'is; yea, and dark was Uther too, 
Wellnigh to blackness; but this king is fair 
Beyond the race of Britons and of men. 330 

Moreover, always in my mind I hear 
A cry from out the dawning of my life, 
A mother weeping, and I hear her say, 
1 that ye had some brother, pretty one, 
To guard thee on the rough ways of the world.'" 335 

"Ay," said the King, "and hear ye such a cry? 
But when did Arthur chance upon thee first?" 

"O King!" she cried, "and I will tell thee true: 
He found me first when yet a little maid : 
Beaten I had been for a little fault 340 

Whereof I was not guilty; and out I ran 
And flung myself down on a bank of heath, 
And hated this fair world and all therein, 
And wept, and wish'd that I were dead; and he — 
I know not whether of himself he came, 345 

Or brought by Merlin, who, they say, can walk 
Unseen at pleasure — he was at my side, 
And spake sweet words, and comforted my heart, 
And dried my tears, being a child with me. 
And many a time he came, and evermore 350 

As I grew greater grew with me; and sad 
At times he seem'd, and sad with him was I, 



36 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Stern too at times, and then I loved him not, 

But sweet again, and then I loved him well. 

And now of late I see him less and less, 355 

But those first days had golden hours for me, 

For then I surely thought he would be king. 

"But let me tell thee now another tale: 
For Bleys, our Merlin's master, as they say, 
Died but of late, and sent his cry to me, 360 

To hear him speak before he left his life. 
Shrunk like a fairy changeling lay the mage; 
And when I enter' d told me that himself 
And Merlin ever served about the King, 
Uther, before he died; and on the night 365 

When Uther in Tintagil past away 
Moaning and wailing for an heir, the two 
Left the still King, and passing forth to breathe, 
Then from the castle gateway by the chasm 
Descending thro' the dismal night — a night 370 

In which the bounds of heaven and earth were 

lost — 
Beheld, so high upon the dreary deeps 
It seem/d in heaven, a ship, the shape thereof 
A dragon wing'd, and all from stem to stern 
Bright with a shining people on the decks, 375 

And gone as soon as seen. And then the two 
Dropt to the cove, and watch'd the great sea fall, 
Wave after wave, each mightier than the last, 
Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep 
And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged 380 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 37 

Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame : 

And down the wave and in the flame was borne 

A naked babe, and rode to Merlin's feet, 

Who stoopt and caught the babe, and cried, 'The 

King! 
Here is an heir for Uther!' And the fringe 385 

Of that great breaker, sweeping up the strand,- 
Lash'd at the wizard as he spake the word, 
And all at once all round him rose in fire, 
So that the child and he were clothed in fire. 
And presently thereafter follow'd calm, 390 

Free sky and stars: 'And this same child/ he said, 
'Is he who reigns; nor could I part in peace 
Till this were told.' And saying this the seer 
Went thro' the strait and dreadful pass of death, 
Not ever to be question'd any more 395 

Save on the further side; but when I met 
Merlin, and ask'd him if these things were truth — 
The shining dragon and the naked child 
Descending in the glory of the seas — 
He laugh'd as is his wont, and answer'd me 400 

In riddling triplets of old time, and said: — 

"'Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow in the sky! 
A young man will be wiser by and by; 
An old man's wit may wander ere he die. 

"'Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow on the lea! 405 

And truth is this to me, and that to thee; 
And truth or clothed or naked let it be. 



38 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

"'Rain, sun, and rain! and the free blossom blows: 
Sun, rain, and sun! and where is he who knows? 
From the great deep to the great deep he goes.' " 410 

"So Merlin riddling anger'd me; but thou 
Fear not to give this King thine only child, 
Guinevere : so great bards of him will sing 
Hereafter; and dark sayings from of old 
Ranging and ringing thro' the minds of men, 415 

And echo'd by old folk beside their fires 
For comfort after their wage-work is done, 
Speak of the King; and Merlin in our time 
Hath spoken also, not in jest, and sworn 
Tho' men may wound him that he will not die, 420 
But pass, again to come, and then or now 
Utterly smite the heathen underfoot, 
Till these and all men hail him for their king." 

She spake and King Leodogran rejoiced, 
But musing "Shall I answer yea or nay?" 
Doubted, and drowsed, nodded and slept, and saw, 
Dreaming, a slope of land that ever grew, 
Field after field, up to a height, the peak 
Haze-hidden and thereon a phantom king, 
Now looming, and now lost; and on the slope 430 

The sword rose, the hind fell, the herd was driven, 
Fire glimpsed; and all the land from roof and rick, 
In drifts of smoke before a rolling wind, 
Stream' d to the peak, and mingled with the haze 
And made it thicker; while the phantom king 435 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 39 

Sent out at times a voice; and here or there 

Stood one who pointed toward the voice, the rest 

Slew on and burnt, crying, "No king of ours, 

No son of Uther, and no king of ours;" 

Till with a wink his dream was changed, the haze 440 

Descended, and the solid earth became 

As nothing, but the King stood out in heaven, 

Crown'd. And Leodogran awoke, and sent 

Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere, 

Back to the court of Arthur answering yea. 445 

Then Arthur charged his warrior whom he loved 
And honor'd most, Sir Lancelot, to ride forth 
And bring the Queen, and watch'd him from the gates; 
And Lancelot past away among the flowers — 
For then was latter April — and return'd 450 

Among the flowers, in May, with Guinevere. 
To whom arrived, by Dubric the high saint, 
Chief of the church in Britain, and before 
The stateliest of her altar-shrines, the King 
That morn was married, while in stainless white, 455 
The fair beginnefs of a nobler time, 
And glorying in their vows and him, his knights 
Stood round him, and rejoicing in his joy. 
Far shone the fields of May thro' open door, 
The sacred altar blossom' d white with May, 460 

The Sun of May descended on their King, 
They gazed on all earth's beauty in their Queen, 
RolFd incense, and there past along the hymns 
A voice as of the waters, while the two 



40 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Sware at the shrine of Christ a deathless love: 

And Arthur said, " Behold, thy doom is mine. 

Let chance what will, I love thee to the death!" 

To whom the Queen replied with drooping eyes, 

"King and my lord, I love thee to the death!" 

And holy Dubric spread his hands and spake: 470 

"Reign ye, and live and love, and make the world 

Other, and may thy Queen be one with thee, 

And all this Order of thy Table Round 

Fulfil the boundless purpose of their King!" 

So Dubric said; but when they left the shrine 
Great lords from Rome before the portal stood, 
In scornful stillness gazing as they past; 
Then while they paced a city all on fire 
With sun and cloth of gold, the trumpets blew, 
And Arthur's knighthood sang before the King: — 480 

"Blow trumpet, for the world is white with May! 
Blow trumpet, the long night hath rolFd away! 
Blow thro' the living world — 'Let the King reign!' 

"Shall Rome or Heathen rule in Arthur's realm? 
Flash brand and lance, fall battle-axe upon helm, 485 
Fall battle-axe, and flash brand! Let the King reign! 

"Strike for the King and live! his knights have 
heard 
That God hath told the King a secret word. 
Fall battle-axe, and flash brand! Let the King reign! 



THE COMING OF ARTHUR 41 

"Blow trumpet! he will lift us from the dust. 490 
Blow trumpet! live the strength, and die the lust! 
Clang battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King 
reign! 

"Strike for the King and die! and if thou diest, 
The King is king, and ever wills the highest. 
Clang battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King- 
reign! 495 

"Blow, for our Sun is mighty in his May! 
Blow, for our Sun is mightier day by day! 
Clang battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King 
reign! 

"The King will follow Christ, and we the King, 
In whom high God hath breathed a secret thing. 500 
Fall battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King 
reign !" 

So sang the knighthood, moving to their hall. 
There at the banquet those great lords from Rome, 
The slowly-fading mistress of the world, 
Strode in and claim'd their tribute as of yore. 505 

But Arthur spake: "Behold, for these have sworn 
To wage my wars, and worship me their King; 
The old order changeth, yielding place to new; 
And we that fight for our fair father Christ, 
Seeing that ye be grown too weak and old 510 

To drive the heathen from your Roman wall, 



42 



IDYLLS OF THE KING 



No tribute will we pay." So those great lords 
Drew back in wrath, and Arthur strove with Rome. 



And Arthur and his knighthood for a space 
Were all one will, and thro' that strength the King 515 
Drew in the petty princedoms under him, 
Fought, and in twelve great battles overcame 
The heathen hordes, and made a realm and reign'd. 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 

"Gareth and Lynette" shows the kingdom at its best, before 
the sin of Lancelot and the Queen has begun its deadly work. 
Gareth is a noble youth, who finds in the pure life of the court 
the conditions most favorable to the realization of his ambition 
to do a man's work for Christ and the King. 

The last tall son of Lot and Bellicent, 
And tallest, Gareth, in a showerful spring 
Stared at the spate. A slender-shafted pine 
Lost footing, fell, and so was whirPd away. 
"How he went down/' said Gareth, "as a false knight 
Or evil king before my lance, if lance 6 

Were mine to use — senseless cataract, 
Bearing all down in thy precipitancy — 
And yet thou art but swollen with cold snows 
And mine is living blood: thou dost His will, 10 

The Maker's, and not knowest, and I that know, 
Have strength and wit, in my good mother's hall 
Linger with vacillating obedience, 
Prison'd, and kept and coax'd and whistled to — 
Since the good mother holds me still a child! 15 

Good mother is bad mother unto me! 
A worse were better; yet no worse would I. 
Heaven yield her for it, but in me put force 
To weary her ears with one continuous prayer, 

43 



44 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Until she let me fly discaged to sweep 20 

In ever-highering eagle-circles up 

To the great Sun of Glory, and thence jwoofu- 

Down upon all things base, an(Tc[ashthem dead, 

A knight of Arthur, working out his will, 

To cleanse the world. Why, Gawain, when he came 25 

With Modred hither in the summer-time, 

Ask'd me to tilt with him, the proven knight. 

Modred for want of worthier was the judge. 

Then I so shook him in the saddle, he said, 

' Thou hast half prevailed against me/ said so — he — 30 

Tho' Modred biting his thin lips was mute, 

For he is alway sullen: what care I?" 

And Gareth went, and hovering round her chair 
Ask'd, " Mother, tho' ye count me still the child, 
Sweet mother, do ye love the child?" She laugh'd, 35 
"Thou art but a wild-goose to question it." 
"Then, mother, an ye love the child/' he said, 
"Being a goose and rather tame than wild, 
Hear the child's story." "Yea, my well-beloved, 
An 'twere but of the goose and golden eggs." 40 

And Gareth answer'd her with kindling eyes: 
"Nay, nay, good mother, but this egg of mine 
Was finer gold than any goose can lay; 
For this an eagle, a royal eagle, laid 
Almost beyond eye-reach, on such a palm 45 

As glitters gilded in thy Book of Hours. 
And there was ever haunting round the palm 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 45 

A lusty youth, but poor, who often saw 

The splendor sparkling from aloft, and thought, 

1 An I could climb and lay my hand upon it, 50 

Then were I wealthier than a leash of kings.' 

But ever when he reached a hand to climb, 

One that had loved him from his childhood caught 

And stay'd him, ' Climb not lest thou break thy neck, 

I charge thee by my love/ and so the boy, 55 

Sweet mother, neither clomb nor brake his neck, 

But brake his very heart in pining for it, 

And past away." 

To whom the mother said, 
"True love, sweet son, had risked himself and climb'd, 
And handed down the golden treasure to him." go 

And Gareth answered her with kindling eyes: 
"Gold? said I gold? — ay then, why he, or she, 
Or whoseso'er it was, or half the world 
Had ventured — had the thing I spake of been 
Mere gold — but this was all of that true steel 65 

Whereof they forged the brand Excalibur, 
And lightnings play'd about it in the storm, 
And all the little fowl were flurried at it, 
And there were cries and clashings in the nest, 
That sent him from his senses: let me go." 70 

Then Bellicent bemoan'd herself and said: 
"Hast thou no pity upon my loneliness? 
Lo, where thy father Lot beside the hearth 



46 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Lies like a log, and all but smoulder'd out! 

For ever since when traitor to the King 

He fought against him in the barons' war, 

And Arthur gave him back his territory, 

His age hath slowly droopt, and now lies there 

A yet-warm corpse, and yet unburiable, 

No more; nor sees, nor hears, nor speaks, nor knows. 

And both thy brethren are in Arthur's hall, 

Albeit neither loved with that full love 

I feel for thee, nor worthy such a love. 

Stay therefore thou; red berries charm the bird, 

And thee, mine innocent, the jousts, the wars, 

Who never knewest finger-ache, nor pang 

Of wrench'd or broken limb — an often chance 

In those brain-stunning shocks, and tourney-falls, 

Frights to my heart; but stay: follow the deer 

By these tall firs and our fast-falling burns; 

So make thy manhood mightier day by day; 

Sweet is the chase : and I will seek thee out 

Some comfortable bride and fair, to grace 

Thy climbing life, and cherish my prone year, 

Till falling into Lot's forgetfulness 

I know not thee, myself, nor anything. 

Stay, my best son! ye are yet more boy than man." 

Then Gareth: "An ye hold me yet for child, 
Hear yet once more the story of the child. 
For, mother, there was once a king, like ours. 
The prince his heir, when tall and marriageable, 
Ask'd for a bride; and thereupon the king 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 47 

Set two before him. One was fair, strong, arm'd — 

But to be won by force — and many men 

Desired her; one, good lack, no man desired. 105 

And these were the conditions of the king: 

That save he won the first by force, he needs 

Must wed that other, whom no man desired, 

A red-faced bride who knew herself so vile 

That evermore she long'd to hide herself, 110 

Nor fronted man or woman, eye to eye — 

Yea — some she cleaved to, but they died of her. 

And one — they call'd her Fame; and one — mother, 

How can ye keep me tether'd to you? — Shame. 

Man am I grown, a man's work must I do. 115 

Follow the deer? follow the Christ, the King, 

Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the 

King- 
Else, wherefore born?" 

To whom the mother said : 
" Sweet son, for there be many who deem him not, 
Or will not deem him, wholly proven King: — 120 

Albeit in mine own heart I knew him King 
When I was frequent with him in my youth, 
And heard him kingly speak, and doubted him 
No more than he, himself; but felt him mine, 
Of closest kin to me: yet — wilt thou leave 125 

Thine easeful biding here, and risk thine all, 
Life, limbs, for one that is not proven King? 
Stay, till the aloud that settles round his birth 
Hath lifted but a little. Stay, sweet son." 



48 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And Gareth answer'd quickly: "Not an hour, 130 
So that ye yield me — I will walk thro' fire, 
Mother, to gain it — your full leave to go. 
Not proven, who swept the dust of ruin'd Rome 
From off the threshold of the realm, and crush' d 
The idolaters, and made the people free? 135 

Who should be king save him who makes us free?" 

So when the Queen, who long had sought in 
vain 
To break him from the intent to which he grew, 
Found her son's will unwaveringly one, 
She answer'd craftily: "Will ye walk thro' fire? 140 

Who walks thro' fire will hardly heed the smoke. 
Ay, go then, an ye must : only one proof, 
Before thou ask the King to make thee knight, 
Of thine obedience and thy love to me, 
Thy mother, — I demand." 

And Gareth cried: 145 

"A hard one, or a hundred, so I go. 
Nay — quick! the proof to prove me to the quick!" 

But slowly spake the mother looking at him : 
"Prince, thou shalt go disguised to Arthur's hall, 
And hire thyself to serve for meats and drinks 150 

Among the scullions %nd the kitchen-knaves, 
And those that hand the dish across the bar. 
Nor shalt thou tell thy name to any one. 
And thou shalt serve a twelvemonth and a day." 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 49 

For so the Queen believed that when her son 155 
Beheld his only way to glory lead 
Low down thro' villain kitchen-vassalage, 
Her own true Gareth was too princely-proud 
To pass thereby; so should he rest with her, 
Closed in her castle from the sound of arms. 160 

Silent awhile was Gareth, then replied: 
"The thrall in person may be free in soul, 
And I shall see the jousts. Thy son am I, 
And, since thou art my mother, must obey. 
I therefore yield me freely to thy will; 165 

For hence will I, disguised, and hire saiyfelf 
To serve with scullions and with kitchen-knaves; 
Nor tell my name to any — no, not the-jSing." 

Gareth awhile lingered. The motherVeye 
Full of the wistful fear that he would, go ; 170 

And turning toward him wheresoofef^^ turn'd, 
Perplext his outward purpose, till an<*hmir 
When, waken'd by the wind which with full voice 
Swept bellowing thro 7 the darkness on to dawn, 
He rose, and out of slumber calling two 175 

That still had tended on him from his birth, 
Before the wakeful mother heard him, went. 

The three were clad like tillers of the soil. 
Southward they set their faces. The birds made 
Melody on branch and melody in mid air. iso 

The damp hill-slopes were quickened into green, 



50 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And the live green had kindled into flowers, 
For it was past the time of Easter-day. 

So, when their feet were planted on the plain 
That broadened toward the base of Camelot, 185 

Far off they saw the silver-misty morn 
Rolling her smoke about the royal mount, 
That rose between the forest and the field. 
At times the summit of the high city flash'd; 
At times the spires and turrets half-way down 190 

Pricked thro' the mist; at times the great gate shone 
Only, that open'd on the field below: 
Anon, the whole fair city had disappeared. 

Then those who went with Gareth were amazed, 
One crying, "Let us go no further, lord: 195 

Here is a city of enchanters, built 
By fairy kings/' The second echo'd him, 
"Lord, we have heard from our wise man at home 
To northward, that this king is not the King, 
But only changeling out of Fairyland, 200 

Who drave the heathen hence by sorcery 
And Merlin's glamour." Then the first again, 
"Lord, there is no such city anywhere, 
But all a vision." 

Gareth answer'd them 
With laughter, swearing he had glamour enow 205 

In his own blood, his princedom, youth, and hopes, 
To plunge old Merlin in the Arabian sea; 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 51 

So push'd them all unwilling toward the gate. 

And there was no gate like it under heaven. 

For barefoot on the keystone, which was lined 210 

And rippled like an ever-fleeting wave, 

The Lady of the Lake stood : all her dress 

Wept from her sides as water flowing away; 

But like the cross her great and goodly arms 

Stretch'd under all the cornice and upheld: 215 

And drops of water fell from either hand; 

And down from one a sword was hung, from one 

A censer, either worn with wind and storm; 

And o'er her breast floated the sacred fish; 

And in the space to left of her, and right, 220 

Were Arthur's wars in weird devices done, 

New things and old co-twisted, as if Time 

Were nothing, so inveterately that men 

Were giddy gazing there; and over all 

High on the top were those three queens, the friends 

Of Arthur, who should help him at his need. 226 

Then those with Gareth for so long a space 
Stared at the figures that at last it seem'd 
The dragon-boughts and elvish emblemings 
Began to move, seethe, twine, and curl: they call'd 230 
To Gareth, "Lord, the gateway is alive." 

And Gareth likewise on them fixt his eyes 
So long that even to him they seem'd to move. 
Out of the city a blast of music peal'd. 
Back from the gate started the three, to whom 235 



52 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

From out thereunder came an ancient man, 
Long-bearded, saying, "Who be ye, my sons?" 

Then Gareth: "We be tillers of the soil, 
Who leaving share in furrow come to see 
The glories of our King: but these, my men, — 240 

Your city moved so weirdly in the mist — 
Doubt if the King be king at all, or come 
From Fairyland; and whether this be built 
By magic, and by fairy kings and queens; 
Or whether there be any city at all, 245 

Or all a vision : and this music now 
Hath scared them both, but tell thou these the truth." 

Then that old Seer made answer, playing on him 
And saying: "Son, I have seen the good ship sail 
Keel upward, and mast downward, in the heavens, 250 
And solid turrets topsy-turvy in air : 
And here is truth; but an it please thee not, 
Take thou the truth as thou hast told it me. 
For truly, as thou sayest, a fairy king 
And fairy queens have built the city, son; 255 

They came from out a sacred mountain-cleft 
Toward the sunrise, each with harp in hand, 
And built it to the music of their harps. 
And, as thou sayest, it is enchanted, son, 
For there is nothing in it as it seems 260 

Saving the King; tho' some there be that hold 
The King a shadow, and the city real : 
Yet take thou heed of him, for, so thou pass 



KGARETH AND LYNETTE 53 

eneath this archway, then wilt thou become 
thrall to his enchantments, for the King 265 

Will bind thee by such vows as is a shame 
A man should not be bound by, yet the which 
No man can keep; but, so thou dread to swear, 
Pass not beneath this gateway, but abide 
Without, among the cattle of the field. 270 

For an ye heard a music, like enow 
They are building still, seeing the city is built 
To music, therefore never built at all, 
And therefore built for ever." 

Gareth spake 
Anger'd: "Old master, reverence thine own beard 275 
That looks as white as utter truth, and seems 
Wellnigh as long as thou are statured tall! 
Why mockest thou the stranger that hath been 
To thee fair-spoken?" 

But the Seer replied: 
"Know ye not then the Riddling of the Bards: 280 
1 Confusion, and illusion, and relation, 
Elusion, and occasion, and evasion'? 
I mock thee not but as thou mockest me, 
And all4hat see thee, for thou art not who 
Thou seemest, but I know thee who thou art. 285 

And now thou goest up to mock the King, 
Who cannot brook the shadow of any lie." 

Unmockingly the mocker ending here 
Turn'd to the right, and past along the plain; 



54 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Whom Gareth looking after said: "My men, 290 

Our one white lie sits like a little ghost 
Here on the threshold of our enterprise. 
Let love be blamed for it, not she, nor I : 
Well, we will make amends." 

With all good cheer 
He spake and laugh'd, then enter'd with his twain 295 
Camelot, a city of shadowy palaces 
And stately, rich in emblem and the work 
Of ancient kings who did their days in stone; 
Which Merlin's hand, the Mage at Arthur's court, 
Knowing all arts, had touch'd, and everywhere, 300 
At Arthur's ordinance, tipt with lessening peak 
And pinnacle, and had made it spire to heaven. 
And ever and anon a knight would pass 
Outward, or inward to the hall : his arms 
Clash'd; and the sound was good to Gareth's ear. 305 
And out of bower and casement shyly glanced 
Eyes of pure women, wholesome stars of love; 
And all about a healthful people stept 
As in the presence of a gracious king. 

Then into hall Gareth ascending heard 310 

A voice, the voice of Arthur, and beheld 
Far over heads in that long-vaulted hall 
The splendor of the presence of the King 
Throned, and delivering doom — and look'd no more— 
But felt his young heart hammering in his ears, 315 
And thought, "For this half-shadow of a lie 



, 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 55 



he truthful King will doom me when I speak." 
Yet pressing on, tho' all in fear to find 
Sir Gawain or Sir Modred, saw nor one 
Nor other, but in all the listening eyes 320 

Of those tall knights that ranged about the throne 
Clear honor shining like the dewy star 
Of dawn, and faith in their great King, with pure 
Affection, and the light of victory, 
And glory gain'd, and evermore to gain. 325 

Then came a widow crying to the King: 
"A boon, Sir King! Thy father, Uther, reft 
From my dead lord a field with violence; 
For howsoe'er at first he proffer'd gold, 
Yet, for the field was pleasant in our eyes, 330 

We yielded not; and then he reft us of it 
Perforce and left us neither gold nor field." 

Said Arthur, " Whether would ye? gold or field?" 
To whom the woman weeping, "Nay, my lord, 
The field was pleasant in my husband's eye." 335 

And Arthur: "Have thy pleasant field again, 
And thrice the gold for Uther's use thereof, 
According to the years. No boon is here, 
But justice, so thy say be proven true. 
Accursed, who from the wrongs his father did 340 

Would shape himself a right!" 

And while she past, 
Came yet another widow crying to him : 



56 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

"A boon, Sir King! Thine enemy, King, am I. 

With thine own hand thou slewest my dear lord, 

A knight of Uther in the barons' war, 345 

When Lot and many another rose and fought 

Against thee, saying thou wert basely born. 

I held with these, and loathe to ask thee aught. 

Yet lo! my husband's brother had my son 

ThralPd in his castle, and hath starved him dead, 350 

And standeth seized of that inheritance 

Which thou that slewest the sire hast left the son. 

So, tho' I scarce can ask it thee for hate, 

Grant me some knight to do the battle for me, 

Kill the foul thief, and wreak me for my son." 355 

Then strode a good knight forward, crying to him, 
"A boon, Sir King! I am her kinsman, I. 
Give me to right her wrong, and slay the man." 

Then came Sir Kay, the seneschal, and cried, 
"A boon, Sir King! even that thou grant her none, 360 
This railer, that hath mock'd thee in full hall — 
None; or the wholesome boon of gyve and gag." 

But Arthur: "We sit King, to help the wrong'd 
Thro' all our realm. The woman loves her lord. 
Peace to thee, woman, with thy loves and hates! 365 
The kings of old had doom'd thee to the flames; 
Aurelius Emrys would have scourged thee dead, 
And Uther slit thy tongue : but get thee hence — 
Lest that rough humor of the kings of old 
Return upon me! Thou that art her kin, 370 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 57 

Go likewise; lay him low and slay him not, 

But bring him here, that I may judge the right, 

According to the justice of the King: 

Then, be he guilty, by that deathless King 

Who lived and died for men, the man shall die." 375 

Then came in hall the messenger of Mark, 
A name of evil savor in the land, 
The Cornish king. In either hand he bore 
What dazzled all, and shone far-off as shines 
A field of charlock in the sudden sun 380 

Between two showers, a cloth of palest gold, 
Which down he laid before the throne, and knelt, 
Delivering that his lord, the vassal king, 
Was even upon his way to Camelot; 
For having heard that Arthur of his grace 385 

Had made his goodly cousin Tristram knight, 
And, for himself was of the greater state, 
Being a king, he trusted his liege-lord 
Would yield him this large honor all the more; 
So pray'd him well to accept this cloth of gold, 390 

In token of true heart and fealty. 

Then Arthur cried to rend the cloth, to rend 
In pieces, and so cast it on the hearth. 
An oak-tree smouldered there. "The goodly knight! 
What! shall the shield of Mark stand among these?" 
For, midway down the side of that long hall, 396 

A stately pile, — whereof along the front, 
Some blazon'd, some but carven, and some blank, 



58 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

There ran a treble range of stony shields, — 

Rose, and high-arching overbrow'd the hearth. 400 

And under every shield a knight was named. 

For this was Arthur's custom in his hall: 

When some good knight had done one noble deed, 

His arms were carven only; but if twain, 

His arms were blazon'd also; but if none, 405 

The shield was blank and bare, without a sign 

Saving the name beneath : and Gareth saw 

The shield of Gawain blazon'd rich and bright, 

And Modred's blank as death; and Arthur cried 

To rend the cloth and cast it on the hearth. 410 

"More like are we to reave him of his crown 
Than make him knight because men call him king. 
The kings we found, ye know we stay'd their hands 
From war among themselves, but left them kings; 
Of whom were any bounteous, merciful, 415 

Truth-speaking, brave, good livers, them we enrolPd 
Among us, and they sit within our hall. 
But Mark hath tarnish'd the great name of king, 
As Mark would sully the low state of churl; 
And, seeing he hath sent us cloth of gold, 420 

Return, and meet, and hold him from our eyes, 
Lest we should lap him up in cloth of lead, 
Silenced for ever — craven — a man of plots, 
Craft, poisonous counsels, wayside ambushings — 
No fault of thine: let Kay the seneschal 425 

Look to thy wants, and send thee satisfied — 
Accursed, who strikes nor lets the hand be seen!" 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 59 

And many another suppliant crying came 
With noise of ravage wrought by beast and man, 
And evermore a knight would ride away. 430 

Last, Gareth leaning both hands heavily 
Down on the shoulders of the twain, his men, 
Approached between them toward the King, and ask'd, 
"A boon, Sir King," — his voice was all ashamed, — 
"For see ye not how weak and hunger-worn 435 

I seem — leaning on these? grant me to serve 
For meat and drink among thy kitchen-knaves 
A twelvemonth and a day, nor seek my name. 
Hereafter I will fight." 

To him the King: 
"A goodly youth and worth a goodlier boon! 440 

But so thou wilt no goodlier, then must Kay, 
The master of the meats and drinks, be thine." 

He rose and past; then Kay, a man of mien 
Wan-sallow as the plant that feels itself 
Root-bitten by white lichen : 

u Lo ye now! 445 

This fellow hath broken from some abbey, where, 
God wot, he had not beef and brewis enow, 
However that might chance ! but an he work, 
Like any pigeon will I cram his crop, 
And sleeker shall he shine than any hog." 450 

Then Lancelot standing near: "Sir Seneschal, 
Sleuth-hound thou knowest, and gray, and all the hound; 



60 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

A horse thou knowest, a man thou dost not know: 

Broad brows and fair, a fluent hair and fine, 

High nose, a nostril large and fine, and hands 455 

Large, fair, and fine! — Some young lad's mystery — 

But, or from sheepcot or king's hall, the boy 

Is noble-natured. Treat him with all grace, 

Lest he should come to shame thy judging of him." 

Then Kay: " What murmurest thou of mystery? 460 
Think ye this fellow will poison the King's dish? 
Nay, for he spake too fool-like: mystery! 
Tut, an the lad were noble, he had ask'd 
For horse and armor: fair and fine, forsooth! 
Sir Fine-face, Sir Fair-hands? but see thou to it 465 
That thine own fineness, Lancelot, some fine day 
Undo thee not — and leave my man to me." 

So Gareth all for glory underwent 
The sooty yoke of kitchen-vassalage, 
Ate with young lads his portion by the door, 470 

And couch'd at night with grimy kitchen-knaves. 
And Lancelot ever spake him pleasantly, 
But Kay the seneschal, who loved him not, 
Would hustle and harry him, and labor him 
Beyond his comrade of the hearth, and set 475 

To turn the broach, draw water, or hew wood, 
Or grosser tasks; and Gareth bow'd himself 
With all obedience to the King, and wrought 
All kind of service with a noble ease 
That graced the lowliest act in doing it. 480 






W( 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 61 



d when the thralls had talk among themselves, 
And one would praise the love that linkt the King 
And Lancelot — how the King had saved his life 
In battle twice, and Lancelot once the King's — 
For Lancelot was first in the tournament, 485 

But Arthur mightiest on the battle-field — 
Gareth was glad. Or if some other told 
How once the wandering forester at dawn, 
Far over the blue tarns and hazy seas, 
On Caer-Eryri's highest found the King, 490 

A naked babe, of whom the Prophet spake, 
"He passes to the Isle Avilion, 
He passes and is heaPd and cannot die" — 
Gareth was glad. But if their talk were foul, 
Then would he whistle rapid as any lark, 495 

Or carol some old roundelay, and so loud 
That first they mock'd, but, after, reverenced him. 
Or Gareth, telling some prodigious tale 
Of knights who sliced a red life-bubbling way 
Thro' twenty folds of twisted dragon, held 500 

All in a gap-mouth'd circle his good mates 
Lying or sitting round him, idle hands, 
Charm'd; till Sir Kay, the seneschal, would come 
Blustering upon them, like a sudden wind 
Among dead leaves, and drive them all apart. 505 

Or when the thralls had sport among themselves, 
So there were any trial of mastery, 
He, by two yards in casting bar or stone, 
Was counted best; and if there chanced a joust, 
So that Sir Kay nodded him leave to go, 510 






62 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Would hurry thither, and when he saw the knights 
Clash like the coming and retiring wave, 
And the spear spring, and good horse reel, the boy 
Was half beyond himself for ecstasy. 



So for a month he wrought among the thralls; 515 
But in the weeks that followed, the good Queen, 
Repentant of the word she made him swear, 
And saddening in her childless castle, sent, 
Between the in-crescent and de-crescent moon, 
Arms for her son, and loosed him from his vow. 520 

This, Gareth hearing from a squire of Lot 
With whom he used to play at tourney once, 
When both were children, and in lonely haunts 
Would scratch a ragged oval on the sand, 
And each at either dash from either end — 525 

Shame never made girl redder than Gareth joy. 
He laugh'd; he sprang. "Out of the smoke, at 

once 
I leap from Satan's foot to Peter's knee — 
These news be mine, none other's — nay, the King's — 
Descend into the city:" whereon he sought 530 

The King alone, and found, and told him all. 

"I have stagger' d thy strong Gawain in a tilt 
For pastime; yea, he said it: joust can I. 
Make me thy knight — in secret! let my name 
Be hidden, and give me the first quest, I spring 535 
Like flame from ashes." 



G ARETE AND LYNETTE 63 

Here the King's calm eye 
Fell on, and check'd, and made him flush, and bow 
Lowly, to kiss his hand, who answered him: 
"Son, the good mother let me know thee here, 
And sent her wish that I would yield thee thine. 540 
Make thee my knight? my knights are sworn to 

vows 
Of utter hardihood, utter gentleness, 
And, loving, utter faithfulness in love, 
And uttermost obedience to the King." 

Then Gareth, lightly springing from his knees: 545 
"My King, for hardihood I can promise thee. 
For uttermost obedience make demand 
Of whom ye gave me to, the Seneschal, 
No mellow master of the meats and drinks! 
And as for love, God wot, I love not yet, 550 

But love I shall, God willing." 

And the King: 
"Make thee my knight in secret? yea, but he, 
Our noblest brother, and our truest man, 
And one with me in all, he needs must know." 

"Let Lancelot know, my King, let Lancelot know, 
Thy noblest and thy truest!" 

And the King: 556 

"But wherefore would ye men should wonder at you? 
Nay, rather for the sake of me, their King, 



64 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And the deed's sake my knighthood do the deed, 
Than to be noised of." 



Merrily Gareth ask'd: 560 

"Have I not earn'd my cake in baking of it? 
Let be my name until I make my name ! 
My deeds will speak: it is but for a day." 
So with a kindly hand on Gareth's arm 
Smiled the great King, and half-unwillingly 565 

Loving his lusty youthhood yielded to him. 
Then, after summoning Lancelot privily: 
"I have given him the first quest: he is not proven. 
Look therefore, when he calls for this in hall, 
Thou get to horse and follow him far away. 
Cover the lions on thy shield, and see, 
Far as thou mayest, he be nor ta'en nor slain." 



Then that same day there past into the hall 
A damsel of high lineage, and a brow 
May-blossom, and a cheek of apple-blossom, 575 

Hawk-eyes; and lightly was her slender nose 
Tip-tilted like the petal of a flower : 
She into hall past with her page and cried : 



"O King, for thou hast driven the foe without, 
See to the foe within! bridge, ford, beset 580, 

By bandits, every one that owns a tower 
The lord for half a league. Why sit ye there? 
Rest would I not, Sir King, an I were king, 
Till even the lonest hold were all as free 







G ARETE AND LYNETTE 65 

From cursed bloodshed as thine altar-cloth 585 

From that best blood it is a sin to spill." 

" Comfort thyself," said Arthur, "I nor mine 
Rest : so my knighthood keep the vows they swore, 
The wastest moorland of our realm shall be 
Safe, damsel, as the centre of this hall. 590 

What is thy name? thy need?" 

."My name?" she said — 
"Lynette, my name; noble; my need, a knight 
To combat for my sister, Lyonors, 
A lady of high lineage, of great lands, 
And comely, yea, and comelier than myself. 595 

She lives in Castle Perilous : a river 
Runs in three loops about her living-place; 
And o'er it are three passings, and three knights 
Defend the passings, brethren, and a fourth, 
And of that four the mightiest, holds her stay'd 600 
In her own castle, and so besieges her 
To break her will, and make her wed with him; 
And but delays his purport till thou send 
To do the battle with him thy chief man 
Sir Lancelot, whom he trusts to overthrow; 605 

Then wed, with glory: but she will not wed 
Save whom she loveth, or a holy life. 
Now therefore have I come for Lancelot." 

Then Arthur mindful of Sir Gareth ask'd : 
"Damsel, ye know this Order lives to crush eio 



66 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

All wrongers of the realm. But say, these four, 
Who be they? What the fashion of the men?" 

"They be of foolish fashion, Sir King, 
The fashion of that old knight-errantry 
Who ride abroad, and do but what they will; 615 

Courteous or bestial from the moment, such 
As have nor law nor king; and three of these 
Proud in their fantasy call themselves the Day, 
Morning-Star, and Noon-Sun, and Evening-Star, 
Being strong fools; and never a whit more wise 620 

The fourth, who alway rideth arm'd in black, 
A huge man-beast of boundless savagery. 
He names himself the Night and oftener Death, 
And wears a helmet mounted with a skull, 
And bears a skeleton figured on his arms, 625 

To show that who may slay or scape the three, 
Slain by himself, shall enter endless night. 
And all these four be fools, but mighty men, 
And therefore am I come for Lancelot." 

Hereat Sir Gareth calPd from where he rose, 630 

A head with kindling eyes above the throng, 
"A boon, Sir King — this quest!" then — for he mark'd 
Kay near him groaning like a wounded bull — 
" Yea, King, thou knowest thy kitchen-knave am I, 
And mighty thro' thy meats and drinks am I, 635 

And I can topple over a hundred such. 
Thy promise, King," and Arthur glancing at him, 
Brought down a momentary brow, " Rough, sudden, 




G ARETE AND LYNETTE 67 

"Slid pardonable, worthy to be knight — 

Go therefore/ J and all hearers were amazed. 640 

But on the damsel's forehead shame, pride, wrath 
Slew the may-white : she lifted either arm, 
"Fie on thee, King! I ask'd for thy chief knight, 
And thou hast given me but a kitchen-knave." 
Then ere a man in hall could stay her, turn'd, 645 

Fled down the lane of access to the King, 
Took horse, descended the slope street, and past 
The weird white gate, and paused without, beside 
The field of tourney, murmuring " kitchen-knave!" 

Now two great entries open'd from the hall, 650 

At one end one that gave upon a range 
Of level pavement where the King would pace 
At sunrise, gazing over plain and wood; 
And down from this a lordly stairway sloped 
Till lost in blowing trees and tops of towers; 655 

And out by this main doorway past the King. 
But one was counter to the hearth, and rose 
High that the highest-crested helm could ride 
Therethro' nor graze; and by this entry fled 
The damsel in her wrath, and on to this eeo 

Sir Gareth strode, and saw without the door 
King Arthur's gift, the worth of half a town, 
A war-horse of the best, and near it stood 
The two that out of north had followed him. 
This bare a maiden shield, a casque; that held 665 

The horse, the spear; whereat Sir Gareth loosed 




68 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

A cloak that dropt from collar-bone to heel, 

A cloth of roughest web, and cast it down, 

And from it, like a fuel-smother' d fire 

That lookt half -dead, brake bright, and flash' d as those 

Dull-coated things, that making slide apart 67i 

Their dusk wing-cases, all beneath there burns 

A jewell'd harness, ere they pass and fly. 

So Gareth ere he parted flash'd in arms. 

Then as he donn'd the helm, and took the shield 675 

And mounted horse and graspt a spear, of grain 

Storm-strengthen' d on a windy site, and tipt 

With trenchant steel, around him slowly prest 

The people, while from out of kitchen came 

The thralls in throng, and seeing who had work'd 68o 

Lustier than any, and whom they could but love, 

Mounted in arms, threw up their caps and cried, 

"God bless the King, and all his fellowship!" 

And on thro' lanes of shouting Gareth rode 

Down the slope street, and past without the gate. 685 

So Gareth past with joy; but as the cur 
Pluckt from the cur he fights with, ere his cause 
Be cool'd by fighting, follows, being named, 
His owner, but remembers all, and growls 
Remembering, so Sir Kay beside the door 690 

Mutter'd in scorn of Gareth whom he used 
To harry and hustle. 

"Bound upon a quest 
With horse and arms — the King hath past his time — 



# 

— For 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 69 



scullion knave! Thralls, to your work again, 
"or an your fire be low ye kindle mine! 695 

Will there be dawn in West and eve in East? 
Begone! — my knave! — belike and like enow 
Some old head-blow not heeded in his youth 
So shook his wits they wander in his prime — 
Crazed! How the villain lifted up his voice, 700 

Nor shamed to bawl himself a kitchen-knave! 
Tut, he was tame and meek enow with me, 
Till peacock'd up with Lancelot's noticing. 
Well — I will after my loud knave, and learn 
Whether he know me for his master yet. 705 

Out of the smoke he came, and so my lance 
Hold, by God's grace, he shall into the mire — 
Thence, if the King awaken from his craze, 
Into the smoke again." 

But Lancelot said: 
" Kay, wherefore wilt thou go against the King, 710 
For that did never he whereon ye rail, 
But ever meekly served the King in thee? 
Abide: take counsel; for this lad is great 
And lusty, and knowing both of lance and sword." 
"Tut, tell not me," said Kay, "ye are overfine 715 

To mar stout knaves with foolish courtesies:" 
Then mounted, on thro' silent faces rode 
Down the slope city, and out beyond the gate. 

But by the field of tourney lingering yet 
Mutter'd the damsel: "Wherefore did the King 720 




70 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Scorn me? for, were Sir Lancelot lackt, at least 
He might have yielded to me one of those 
Who tilt for lady's love and glory here, 
Rather than — O sweet heaven! fie upon him! — 
His kitchen-knave.' ' 



To whom Sir Gareth drew — 
And there were none but few goodlier than he — 726 
Shining in arms, " Damsel, the quest is mine. 
Lead, and I follow." She therat, as one 
That smells a foul-flesh'd agaric in the holt, 
And deems it carrion of some woodland thing, 730 

Or shrew, or weasel, nipt her slender nose 
With petulant thumb and finger, shrilling, "Hence! 
Avoid, thou smellest all of kitchen-grease. 
And look who comes behind;" for there was Kay. 
"Knowest thou not me? thy master? I am Kay. 735 
We lack thee by the hearth." 



And Gareth to him, 
" Master no more! too well I know thee, ay — 
The most ungentle knight in Arthur's hall." 
"Have at thee then," said Kay: they shock'd, and Kay 
Fell shoulder-slipt, and Gareth cried again, 740 

"Lead, and I follow," and fast away she fled. 

But after sod and shingle ceased to fly 
Behind her, and the heart of her good horse 
Was nigh to burst with violence of the beat, 
Perforce she stay'd, and overtaken spoke: 745 









GARETH AND LYNETTE 71 



fhat doest thou, scullion, in my fellowship? 
Deem'st thou that I accept thee aught the more 
Or love thee better, that by some device 
Full cowardly, or by mere unhappiness, 
Thou hast overthrown and slain thy master — thou! — 
Dish-washer and broach-turner, loon! — to me 751 

Thou smellest all of kitchen as before." 

" Damsel," Sir Gareth answered gently, "say 
Whate'er ye will, but whatsoever ye say, 
I leave not till I finish this fair quest, 755 

Or die therefore." 

"Ay, wilt thou finish it? 
Sweet lord, how like a noble knight he talks! 
The listening rogue hath caught the manner of it. 
But, knave, anon thou shalt be met with, knave, 
And then by such a one that thou for all 760 

The kitchen brewis that was ever supt 
Shalt not once dare to look him in the face." 

"I shall assay," said Gareth with a smile 
That madden'd her, and away she flash'd again 
Down the long avenues of a boundless wood, 765 

And Gareth following was again beknaved: 

"Sir Kitchen-knave, I have ihiss'd the only way 
Where Arthur's men are set along the wood; 
The wood is nigh as full of thieves as leaves: 
If both be slain, I am rid of thee; but yet, 770 




72 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Sir Scullion, canst thou use that spit of thine? 
Fight, an thou canst: I have miss'd the only way." 

So till the dusk that followed evensong 
Rode on the two, reviler and reviled; 
Then after one long slope was mounted, saw, 775 

Bowl-shaped, thro' tops of many thousand pines 
A gloomy-gladed hollow slowly sink 
To westward — in the deeps whereof a mere, 
Round as the red eye of an eagle-owl, 
Under the half -dead sunset glared; and shouts 780 

Ascended, and there brake a servingman 
Flying from out of the black wood, and crying, 
" They have bound my lord to cast him in the 

mere." 
Then Gareth, " Bound am I to right the wrong'd, 
But straitlier bound am I to bide with thee." 785 

And when the damsel spake contemptuously, 
"Lead, and I follow," Gareth cried again, 
"Follow, I lead!" so down among the pines 
He plunged; and there, black-shadow' d nigh the mere, 
And mid-thigh-deep in bulrushes and reed, 790 

Saw six tall men haling a seventh along, 
A stone about his neck to drown him in it. 
Three with good blows he quieted, but three 
Fled thro' the pines; and Gareth loosed the stone 
From off his neck, then in the mere beside 795 

Tumbled it; oilily bubbled up the mere. 
Last, Gareth loosed his bonds and on free feet 
Set him, a stalwart baron, Arthur's friend. 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 73 

"Well that ye came, or else these caitiff rogues 
fiad wreak' d themselves on me; good cause is theirs soo 
To hate me, for my wont hath ever been 
To catch my thief, and then like vermin here 
Drown him, and with a stone about his neck; 
And under this wan water many of them 
Lie rotting, but at night let go the stone, 805 

And rise, and flickering in a grimly light 
Dance- on the mere. Good now, ye have saved a 

life 
Worth somewhat as the cleanser of this wood. 
And fain would I reward thee worshipfully. 
What guerdon will ye?" 

Gareth sharply spake: 8io 
"None! for the deed's sake have I done the deed, 
In uttermost obedience to the King. 
But wilt thou yield this damsel harborage?" 

Whereat the baron saying, "I well believe 
You be of Arthur's Table," a light laugh sis 

Broke from Lynette: "Ay, truly of a truth, 
And in a sort, being Arthur's kitchen-knave! — 
But deem not I accept thee aught the more, 
Scullion, for running sharply with thy spit 
Down on a rout of craven foresters. 820 

A thresher with his flail had scatter'd them. 
Nay — for thou smellest of the kitchen still. 
But an this lord will yield us harborage, 
Well." 



74 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

So she spake. A league beyond the wood, 
All in a full-fair manor and a rich, 825 

His towers, where that day a feast had been 
Held in high hall, and many a viand left, 
And many a costly cate, received the three. 
And there they placed a peacock in his pride 
Before the damsel, and the baron set 830 

Gareth beside her, but at once she rose. 

"Meseems, that here is much discourtesy, 
Setting this knave, Lord Baron, at my side. 
Hear me — this morn I stood in Arthur's hall, 
And pray'd the King would grant me Lancelot 835 

To fight the brotherhood of Day and Night — 
The last a monster unsubduable 
Of any save of him for whom I calPd — 
Suddenly bawls this frontless kitchen-knave, 
'The quest is mine; thy kitchen-knave am I, 840 

And mighty thro' thy meats and drinks am I.' 
Then Arthur all at once gone mad replies, 
'Go therefore/ and so gives the quest to him — 
Him — here — a villain fitter to stick swine 
Than ride abroad redressing women's wrong, 845 

Or sit beside a noble gentlewoman.' ' 

Then half-ashamed and part-amazed, the lord 
Now look'd at one and now at other, left 
The damsel by the peacock in his pride, 
And, seating Gareth at another board, 850 

Sat down beside him, ate and then began: 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 75 

" Friend, whether thou be kitchen-knave, or not, 
Or whether it be the maiden's fantasy, 
And whether she be mad, or else the King, 
Or both or neither, or thyself be mad, 855 

I ask not : but thou strikest a strong stroke, 
For strong thou art and goodly therewithal, 
And saver of my life; and therefore now, 
For here be mighty men to joust with, weigh 
Whether thou wilt not with thy damsel back 860 

To crave again Sir Lancelot of the King. 
Thy pardon; I but speak for thine avail, 
The saver of my life." 

And Gareth said, 
"Full pardon, but I follow up the quest, 
Despite of Day and Night_and Death and Hell." 865 



So when, next morn, the lord whose life he saved 
Had, some brief space, conveyed them on their way 
And left them with God-speed, Sir Gareth spake, 
"Lead, and I follow." Haughtily she replied: 

"I fly no more: I allow thee for an hour. 870 

Lion and stoat have isled together, knave, 
In time of flood. Nay, furthermore, methinks 
Some ruth is mine for thee. Back wilt thou, fool? 
For hard by here is one will overthrow 
And slay thee; then will I to court again, 875 

And shame the King for only yielding me 
My champion from the ashes of his hearth." 



76 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

To whom Sir Gareth answered courteously: 
"Say thou thy say, and I will do my deed. 
Allow me for mine hour, and thou wilt find 880 

My fortunes all as fair as hers who lay 
Among the ashes and wedded the King's son." 

Then to the shore of one of those long loops 
Wherethro' the serpent river coil'd, they came. 
Rough-thicketed were the banks and steep; the stream 
Full, narrow; this a bridge of single arc 886 

Took at a leap; and on the further side 
Arose a silk pavilion, gay with gold 
In streaks and rays, and all Lent-lily in hue, 
Save that the dome was purple, and above, 890 

Crimson, a slender banneret fluttering. 
And therebefore the lawless warrior paced 
Unarmed, and calling, "Damsel, is this he, 
The champion thou hast brought from Arthur's hall? 
For whom we let thee pass." "Nay, nay," she said, 
"Sir Morning-Star. The King in utter scorn 896 

Of thee and thy much folly hath sent thee here 
His kitchen-knave : and look thou to thyself : 
See that he fall not on thee suddenly, 
And slay thee unarm'd; he is not knight but knave." 900 

Then at his call, "0 daughters of the Dawn, 
And servants of the Morning-Star, approach, 
Arm me," from out the silken curtain-folds 
Bare-footed and bare-headed three fair girls 
In gilt and rosy raiment came : their feet 905 






GARETH AND LYNETTE 77 



In dewy grasses glisten'd; and the hair 

All over glanced with dewdrop or with gem 

Like sparkles in the stone Avanturine. 

These arm'd him in blue arms, and gave a shield 

Blue also, and thereon the morning star. 910 

And Gareth silent gazed upon the knight, 

Who stood a moment, ere his horse was brought, 

Glorying; and in the stream beneath him shone, 

Immingled with Heaven's azure waveringly, 

The gay pavilion and the naked feet, 915 

His arms, the rosy raiment, and the star. 

Then she that watch'd him: " Wherefore stare ye 
so? 
Thou shakest in thy fear : there yet is time : 
Flee down the valley before he get to horse. 
Who will cry shame? Thou art not knight but knave.' ' 

Said Gareth: " Damsel, whether knave or knight, 921 
Far liefer had I fight a score of times 
Than hear thee so missay me and revile. 
Fair words were best for him who fights for thee; 
But truly foul are better, for they send 925 

That strength of anger thro' mine arms, I know 
That I shall overthrow him." 

And he that bore 
The star, when mounted, cried from o'er the bridge: 
" A kitchen-knave, and sent in scorn of me! 
Such fight not I, but answer scorn with scorn, 930 



78 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

For this were shame to do him further wrong 

Than set him on his feet, and take his horse 

And arms, and so return him to the King. 

Come, therefore, leave thy lady lightly, knave. 

Avoid : for it beseemeth not a knave 935 

To ride with such a lady/' 

"Dog, thouliest! . 
I spring from loftier lineage than thine own." 
He spake; and all at fiery speed the two 
Shocked on the central bridge, and either spear 
Bent but not brake, and either knight at once, 940 

HurFd as a stone from out of a catapult 
Beyond his horse's crupper and the bridge, 
Fell, as if dead; but quickly rose and drew, 
And Gareth lash'd so fiercely with his brand 
He drave his enemy backward down the bridge, 945 
The damsel crying, "Well-stricken, kitchen-knave !" 
Till Gareth's shield was cloven; but one stroke 
Laid him that clove it grovelling on the ground. 

Then cried the fallen, "Take not my life: I yield." 
And Gareth, "So this damsel ask it of me 950 

Good — I accord it easily as a grace." 
She reddening, "Insolent scullion! I of thee? 
I bound to thee for any favor ask'd!" 
"Then shall he die." And Gareth there unlaced 
His helmet as to slay him, but she shriek'd, 955 

"Be not so hardy, scullion, as to slay 
One nobler than thyself." "Damsel, thy charge 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 79 

Is an abounding pleasure to me. Knight, 

Thy life is thine at her command. Arise 

And quickly pass to Arthur's hall, and say 960 

His kitchen-knave hath sent thee. See thou crave 

His pardon for thy breaking of his laws. 

Myself when I return will plead for thee. 

Thy shield is mine — farewell; and, damsel, thou, 

Lead, and I follow." 

And fast away she fled; 965 

Then when he came upon her, spake: "Methought, 
Knave, when I watch'd thee striking on the bridge, 
The savor of thy kitchen came upon me 
A little faintlier: but the wind hath changed; 
I scent it twenty-fold." And then she sang, 970 

("'0 morning star' — not that tall felon there 
Whom thou, by sorcery or unhappiness 
Or some device, hast foully overthrown, — 
\ morning star that smilest in the blue, 
star, my morning dream hath proven true, 975 

Smile sweetly, thou! my love hath smiled on me.' 

"But thou begone, take counsel, and away, 
For hard by here is one that guards a ford — 
The second brother in their fool's parable — 
Will pay thee all thy wages, and to boot. 980 

Care not for shame: thou art not knight but knave." 

To whom Sir Gareth answer'd, laughingly: 
"Parables? Hear a parable of the knave. 



80 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

When I was kitchen-knave among the rest, 

Fierce was the hearth, and one of my co-mates 985 

Own'd a rough dog, to whom he cast his coat, 

'Guard it/ and there was none to meddle with it. 

And such a coat art thou, and thee the King 

Gave me to guard, and such a dog am I, 

To worry, and not to flee — and — knight or knave — 990 

The knave that doth thee service as full knight 

Is all as good, meseems, as any knight 

Toward thy sister's freeing." 

"Ay, Sir Knave! 
Ay, knave, because thou strikest as a knight, 
Being but knave, I hate thee all the more." 995 

"Fair damsel, you should worship me the more, 
That, being but knave, I throw thine enemies." 

"Ay, ay," she said, "but thou shalt meet thy match." 

So when they touched the second river-loop, 
Huge on a huge red horse, and all in mail 1000 

Burnish'd to blinding, shone the Noonday Sun 
Beyond a raging shallow. As if the flower 
That blows a globe of after arrowlets 
Ten-thousand-fold had grown, flash'd the fierce shield, 
All sun; and Gareth's eyes had flying blots 1005 

Before them when he turn'd from watching him. 
He from beyond the roaring shallow roar'd, 
"What doest thou, brother, in my marches here?" 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 81 

And she athwart the shallow shrilPd again, 

"Here is a kitchen-knave from Arthur's hall 1010 

Hath overthrown thy brother, and hath his arms." 

"Ugh!" cried the Sun, and vizoring up a red 

And cipher face of rounded foolishness, 

Push'd horse across the foamings of the ford, 

Whom Gareth met mid-stream : no room was there 1015 

For lance or tourney-skill : four strokes they struck 

With sword, and these were mighty; the new knight 

Had fear he might be shamed; but as the Sun 

Heaved up a ponderous arm to strike the fifth, 

The hoof of his horse slipt in the stream, the stream 1020 

Descended, and the Sun was wash'd away. 

Then Gareth laid his lance athwart the ford; 
So drew him home; but he that fought no more, 
As being all bone-batter' d on the rock, 
Yielded; and Gareth sent him to the King. 1025 

"Myself when I return will plead for thee. 
Lead, and I follow." Quietly she led. 
"Hath not the good wind, damsel, changed again? 
"Nay, not a point; nor art thou victor here. 
There lies a ridge of slate across the ford; 1030 

His horse thereon stumbled — ay, for I saw it. 



ait 



' O sun' — not this strong fool whom thou, Sir Knave, 
Hast overthrown thro' mere unhappiness — 
'0 sun, that wakenest all to bliss or pain, 
moon, that layest all to sleep again, 1035 

Shine sweetly: twice my love hath smiled on me.' 



82 



IDYLLS OF THE KING 



"What knowest thou of love-song or of love? 
Nay, nay, God wot, so thou wert nobly born, 
Thou hast a pleasant presence. Yea, perchance,— 

" '0 dewy flowers that open to the sun, 
O dewy flowers that close when day is done, 
Blow sweetly: twice my love hath smiled on me/ 

"What knowest thou of flowers, except, belike, 
To garnish meats with? hath not our good King 
Who lent me thee, the flower of kitchendom, 
A foolish love for flowers? what stick ye round 
The pasty? wherewithal deck the boar's head? 
Flowers? nay, the boar hath rosemaries and bay. 

"'0 birds that warble to the morning sky, 
O birds that warble as the day goes by, 
Sing sweetly: twice my love hath smiled on me.' 






1640 



1045 



1050 



"What knowest thou of birds, lark, mavis, merle, 
Linnet? what dream ye when they utter forth 
May-music growing with the growing light, 
Their sweet sun-worship? these be for the snare — 1055 
So runs thy fancy — these be for the spit, 
Larding and basting. See thou have not now 
Larded thy last, except thou turn and fly. 
There stands the third fool of their allegory.' ' 



For there beyond a bridge of treble bow, 
All in a rose-red from the west, and all 



1060 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 83 

Naked it seem'd, and glowing in the broad 
Deep-dimpled current underneath, the knight 
That named himself the Star of Evening stood. 

And Gareth, " Wherefore waits the madman there 
Naked in open dayshine?" "Nay," she cried, 1066 

"Not naked, only wrapt in hardened skins 
That fit him like his own; and so ye cleave 
His armor off him, these will turn the blade." 

Then the third brother shouted o'er the bridge, 1070 
"O brother-star, why shine ye here so low? 
Thy ward is higher up: but have ye slain 
The damsel's champion?" and the damsel cried: 

"No star of thine, but shot from Arthur's heaven 
With all disaster unto thine and thee! 1075 

For both thy younger brethren have gone down 
Before this youth; and so wilt thou, Sir Star; 
Art thou not old?" 

"Old, damsel, old and hard, 
Old, with the might and breath of twenty boys." 
Said Gareth, "Old, and over-bold in brag! ioso 

But that same strength which threw the Morning Star 
Can throw the Evening." 

Then that other blew 
A hard and deadly note upon the horn. 
"Approach and arm me!" With slow steps from out 



84 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

An old storm-beaten, russet, many-stain' d 1085 

Pavilion, forth a grizzled damsel came, 
And arm'd him in old arms, and brought a helm 
With but a drying evergreen for crest, 
And gave a shield whereon the star of even 
Half-tamish'd and half-bright, his emblem, shone. 1090 
But when it glitter'd o'er the saddle-bow, 
They madly hurPd together on the bridge; 
And Gareth overthrew him, lighted, drew, 
There met him drawn, and overthrew him again, 
But up like fire he started: and as oft 1095 

As Gareth brought him grovelling on his knees, 
So many a time he vaulted up again; 
Till Gareth panted hard, and his great heart, 
Foredooming all his trouble was in vain, 
Labored within him, for he seem'd as one 1100 

That all in later, sadder age begins 
To war against ill uses of a life, 
But these from all his life arise, and cry, 
" Thou hast made us lords, and canst not put us down! " 
He half despairs; so Gareth seem'd to strike 1105 

Vainly, the damsel clamoring all the while, 
" Well done, knave-knight, well stricken, O good knight- 
knave — 
O knave, as noble as any of all the knights — 
Shame me not, shame me not. I have prophesied — 
Strike, thou art worthy of the Table Round — 1110 

His arms are old, he trusts the harden'd skin — 
Strike — strike — the wind will never change again. " 
And Gareth hearing ever stronglier smote, 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 85 

And hew'd great pieces of his armor off him, 

But lasted in vain against the hardened skin, 1115 

And could not wholly bring him under, more 

Than loud Southwesterns, rolling ridge on ridge, 

The buoy that rides at sea, and dips and springs 

For ever; till at length Sir Gareth's brand 

Clash'd his, and brake it utterly to the hilt. 1120 

"I have thee now"; but forth that other sprang, 

And, all unknightlike, writhed his wiry arms 

Around him, till he felt, despite his mail, 

Strangled, but straining even his uttermost 

Cast, and so hurFd him headlong o'er the bridge 1125 

Down to the river, sink or swim, and cried, 

"Lead, and I follow." 

"" Nw ^ But the damsel said: 

"I lead no longer; ride thou at my side; 
Thou art the kingliest of all kitchen-knaves. 

ui O trefoil, sparkling on the rainy plain, 1130 

rainbow with three colors after rain, 
Shine sweetly: thrice my love hath smiled on me/ 

"Sir, — and, good faith, I fain had added — Knight, 
But that I heard thee call thyself a knave, — 
Shamed am I that I so rebuked, reviled, 1135 

Missaid thee; noble I am; and thought the King 
Scorn'd me and mine; and now thy pardon, friend, 
For thou hast ever answer'd courteously, 
And wholly bold thou art, and meek withal 



86 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

As any of Arthur's best, but, being knave, iho 

Hast mazed my wit: I marvel what thou art." 

"Damsel/' he said, "you be not all to blame, 
Saving that you mistrusted our good King 
Would handle scorn, or yield you, asking, one 
Not fit to cope your quest. You said your say; 1145 
Mine answer was my deed. Xloed sooth! I hold 
He scarce is knight, yea but half-man, nor meet 
To fight for gentle damsel, he, who lets 
His heart be stirr'd with any foolish heat 
At any gentle damsel's waywardness. 1150 

Shamed? care not! thy foul sayings fought for me: 
And seeing now thy words are fair, methinks 
There rides no knight, not Lancelot, his great self, 
Hath force to quell me." 

Nigh upon that hour 
When the lone hern forgets his melancholy, 1155 

Lets down his other leg, and stretching dreams 
Of goodly supper in the distant pool, 
Then turn'd the noble damsel smiling at him, 
And told him of a cavern hard at hand, 
Where bread and baken meats and good red wine 1160 
Of Southland, which the Lady Lyonors 
Had sent her coming champion, waited him. 

Anon they past a narrow comb wherein 
Were slabs of rock with figures, knights on horse 
Sculptured, and deckt in slowly-waning hues. ii65 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 87 

"Sir Knave, my knight, a hermit once was here, 

Whose holy hand hath fashioned on the rock 

The war of Time against the soul of man. 

And yon four fools have suck'd their allegory 

From these damp walls, and taken but the form. 1170 

Know ye not these?" and Gareth lookt and read — 

In letters like to those the vexillary 

Hath left crag-carven o'er the streaming Gelt — 

"Phosphorus," then "Meridies," — "Hesperus" — 

"Nox" — "Mors," beneath five figures, armed men, 

Slab after slab, their faces forward all, 1176 

And running down the Soul, a shape that fled 

With broken wings, torn raiment, and loose hair, 

For help and shelter to the hermit's cave. 

"Follow the faces, and we find it. Look, liso 

Who comes behind?" 

For one — delayed at first 
Thro' helping back the dislocated Kay 
To Camelot, then by what thereafter chanced, 
The damsel's headlong error thro' the wood — 
Sir Lancelot, having swum the river-loops — 1185 

His blue shield-lions cover' d — softly drew 
Behind the twain, and when he saw the star 
Gleam, on Sir Gareth's turning to him, cried, 
"Stay, felon knight, I avenge me for my friend." 
And Gareth crying prick'd against the cry; 1190 

But when they closed — in a moment — at one touch 
Of that skill'd spear, the wonder of the world — 
Went sliding down so easily, and fell. 



88 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

That when he found the grass within his hands 
He laugh'd; the laughter jarr'd upon Lynette: 1195 

Harshly she ask'd him, " Shamed and overthrown, 
And tumbled back into the kitchen-knave, 
Why laugh ye? that ye blew your boast in vain?" 
"Nay, noble damsel, but that I, the son 
Of old King Lot and good Queen Belli cent, 1200 

And victor of the bridges and the ford, 
And knight of Arthur, here lie thrown by whom 
I know not, all thro' mere unhappiness — 
Device and sorcery and unhappiness — 
Out, sword; we are thrown!" And Lancelot answer'd: 
"Prince, 1205 

O Gareth — thro' the mere unhappiness 
Of one who came to help thee, not to harm, 
Lancelot, and all as glad to find thee whole 
As on the day when Arthur knighted him." 

ThenGareth: "Thou — Lancelot! — thine the hand 1210 
That threw me? An some chance to mar the boast 
Thy brethren of thee make — which could not chance — 
Had sent thee down before a lesser spear, 
Shamed had I been, and sad — O Lancelot — thou!" 

Whereat the maiden, petulant: "Lancelot, 1215 

Why came ye not, when call'd? and wherefore now 
Come ye, not calPd? I gloried in my knave, 
Who being still rebuked would answer still 
Courteous as any knight — but now, if knight, 
The marvel dies, and leaves me fool'd and trick'd, 1220 



200 
'd: 



G ARETE AND LYNETTE 89 

And only wondering wherefore play'd upon; 

And doubtful whether I and mine be scorn'd. 

Where should be truth if not in Arthur's hall, 

In Arthur's presence? Knight, knave, prince and fool, 

I hate thee and forever." 

And Lancelot said: 1225 

" Blessed be thou, Sir Gareth! knight art thou 
To the King's best wish. damsel, be you wise, 
To call him shamed who is but overthrown? 
Thrown have I been, nor once, but many a time. 
Victor from vanquished issues at the last, 1230 

And overthrower from being overthrown. 
With sword we have not striven; and thy good horse 
And thou are weary; yet not less I felt 
Thy manhood thro' that wearied lance of thine. 
Well hast thou done; for all the stream is freed, 1235 
And thou hast wreak' d his justice on his foes, 
And when reviled hast answer'd graciously, 
And makest merry when overthrown. Prince, knight, 
Hail, knight and prince, and of our Table Round!" 

And then when turning to Lynette he told 1240 

The tale of Gareth, petulantly she said: 
"Ay, well — ay, well — for worse than being fool'd 
Of others, is to fool one's self. A cave, 
Sir Lancelot, is hard by, with meats and drinks 
And forage for the horse, and flint for fire. 1245 

But all about it flies a honeysuckle. 
Seek, till we find." And when they sought and found, 



90 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Sir Gareth drank and ate, and all his life 

Past into sleep; on whom the maiden gazed: 

" Sound sleep be thine! sound cause to sleep hast thou. 

Wake lusty! Seem I not as tender to him 1251 

As any mother? Ay, but such a one 

As all day long hath rated at her child, 

And vext his day, but blesses him asleep — 

Good lord, how sweetly smells the honeysuckle 1255 

In the hush'd night, as if the world were one 

Of utter peace, and love, and gentleness! 

O Lancelot, Lancelot/ ' — and she clapt her hands — 

"Full merry am I to find my goodly knave 

Is knight and noble. See now, sworn have I, 1260 

Else yon black felon had not let me pass, 

To bring thee back to do the battle with him. 

Thus an thou goest, he will fight thee first; 

Who doubts thee victor? so will my knight-knave 

Miss the full flower of this accomplishment/ ' 1265 



Said Lancelot: " Peradventure he you name 
May know my shield. Let Gareth, an he will, 
Change his for mine, and take my charger, fresh, 
Not to be spurred, loving the battle as well 
As he that rides him." "Lancelot-like," she said, 1270 
"Courteous in this, Lord Lancelot, as in all." 






And Gareth, wakening, fiercely clutch'd the shield: 
" Ramp, ye lance-splintering lions, on whom all spears 
Are rotten sticks! ye seem agape to roar! 
Yea, ramp and roar at leaving of your lord! — 1275 



Care not, good beasts, so well I care for you. 

noble Lancelot, from my hold on these 
Streams virtue — fire — thro' one that will not shame 
Even the shadow of Lancelot under shield. 
Hence: let us go." 

Silent the silent field 1280 

They traversed. Arthur's Harp tho' summer-wan, 
In counter motion to the clouds, allured 
The glance of Gareth dreaming on his liege. 
A star shot: "Lo," said Gareth, "the foe falls!" 
An owl whoopt: "Hark the victor pealing there!" 1285 
Suddenly she that rode upon his left 
Clung to the shield that Lancelot lent him, crying: 
"Yield, yield him this again; 'tis he must fight: 

1 curse the tongue that all thro' yesterday 

Reviled thee, and hath wrought on Lancelot now 1290 
To lend thee horse and shield: wonders ye have done; 
Miracles ye cannot: here is glory enow 
In having flung the three: I see thee maim'd, 
Mangled: I swear thou canst not fling the fourth." 

"And wherefore, damsel? tell me all ye know. 1295 
You cannot scare me ; nor rough face, or voice, 
Brute bulk of limb, or boundless savagery 
Appal me from the quest." 

"Nay, prince," she cried, 
"God wot, I never look'd upon the face, 
Seeing he never rides abroad by day; 1300 



92 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

But watch'd him have I like a phantom pass 

Chilling the night: nor have I heard the voice. 

Always he made his mouthpiece of a page 

Who came and went, and still reported him 

As closing in himself the strength of ten, 1305 

And when his anger tare him, massacring 

Man, woman, lad, and girl — yea, the soft babe ! 

Some hold that he hath swallow' d infant flesh, 

Monster! prince, I went for Lancelot first, 

The quest is Lancelot's: give him back the shield." 1310 

Said Gareth laughing, " An he fight for this, 
Belike he wins it as the better man : 
Thus — and not else!" 

But Lancelot on him urged 
All the devisings of their chivalry 
When one might meet a mightier than himself; 1315 
How best to manage horse, lance, sword, and shield, 
And so fill up the gap where force might fail 
With skill and fineness. Instant were his words. 

Then Gareth: "Here be rules. I know but one — 
To dash against mine enemy and to win. 1320 

Yet have I watch' d thee victor in the joust, 
And seen thy way." " Heaven help thee!" sigh'd 
Lynette. 

Then for a space, and under cloud that grew 
To thunder-gloom palling all stars, they rode 



, 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 93 



n converse till she made her palfrey halt, 1325 

Lifted an arm, and softly whispered, "There." 
And all the three were silent seeing, pitch'd 
Beside the Castle Perilous on flat field, 
A huge pavilion like a mountain peak 
Sunder the glooming crimson on the marge, 1330 

Black, with black banner, and a long black horn 
Beside it hanging; which Sir Gareth graspt, 
And so, before the two could hinder him, 
Sent all his heart and breath thro' all the horn. 
Echoed the walls; a light twinkled; anon 1335 

Came lights and lights, and once again he blew; 
Whereon were hollow tramplings up and down 
And muffled voices heard, and shadows past; 
Till high above him, circled with her maids, 
The Lady Lyonors at a window stood, 1340 

Beautiful among lights, and waving to him 
White hands and courtesy; but when the prince 
Three times had blown — after long hush — at last — 
The huge pavilion slowly yielded up, 
Thro' those black foldings, that which housed therein. 
High on a night-black horse, in night-black arms, 1346 
With white breast-bone, and barren ribs of Death, 
And crown' d with fleshless laughter — some ten steps — 
In the half-light — thro' the dim dawn — advanced 
The monster, and then paused, and spake no word. 1350 

But Gareth spake and all indignantly: 
"Fool, for thou hast, men say, the strength of ten, 
Canst thou not trust the limbs thy God hath given, 



94 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

But must, to make the terror of thee more, 

Trick thyself out in ghastly imageries 1355 

Of that which Life hath done with, and the clod, 

Less dull than thou, will hide with mantling flowers 

As if for pity? " But he spake no word; 

Which set the horror higher: a maiden swoon'd; 

The Lady Lyonors wrung her hands and wept, 1360 

As doomed to be the bride of Night and Death; 

Sir Gareth's head prickled beneath his helm; 

And even Sir Lancelot thro' his warm blood felt 

Ice strike, and all that mark'd him w^ere aghast. 

At once Sir Lancelot's charger fiercely neigh'd, 1365 
And Death's dark war-horse bounded forward with him. 
Then those that did not blink the terror saw 
That Death was cast to ground, and slowly rose. 
But with one stroke Sir Gareth split the skull. 
Half fell to right and half to left and lay. 1370 

Then with a stronger buffet he clove the helm 
As throughly as the skull; and out from this 
Issued the bright face of a blooming boy 
Fresh as a flower new-born, and crying, " Knight, 
Slay me not: my three brethren bade me do it, 1375 
To make a horror all about the house, 
And stay the world from Lady Lyonors; 
They never dream'd the passes would be past." 
Answer'd Sir Gareth graciously to one 
Not many a moon his younger, "My fair child, 1380 
What madness made thee challenge the chief knight 
Of Arthur's hall? " " Fair Sir, they bade me do it. 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 95 

They hate the King and Lancelot, the King's friend; 
They hoped to slay him somewhere on the stream, 
They never dream'd the passes could be past." 1385 

Then sprang the happier day from underground; 
And Lady Lyonors and her house, with dance 
And revel and song, made merry over Death, 
As being after all their foolish fears 
And horrors only proven a blooming boy. 1390 

So large mirth lived, and Gareth won the quest. 

And he that told the tale in older times 
Says that Sir Gareth wedded Lyonors, 
But he that told it later says Lynette. j 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 



From Gareth and Lynette to Lancelot and Elaine 

It is a far cry from the wholesome atmosphere of " Gareth and 
Lynette" to the sin-ladened mist of " Lancelot and Elaine." In 
reading the complete cycle, there is not the abrupt transition 
that is found in following the order of the present edition. 

"The Marriage of Geraint," and "Geraint and Enid" were 
originally published as a single poem following "Gareth and 
Lynette." Here, — 

"a rumor rose about the Queen, 
Touching her guilty love for Lancelot, 
Tho' yet there lived no proof." 

This rumor is believed by Geraint, who fears that his wife 
has been contaminated by her association with the Queen. 
Though the suspicion causes great suffering, it does no permanent 
harm. 

In the next Idyll, "Balin and Balan," the results of the sin 
are more tragic. Balin takes the Queen and Lancelot as embodi- 
ments of his ideals, and when he becomes convinced of their 
perfidy, he draws the natural though unwarranted conclusion 
that there is neither honor in man nor purity in woman. In the 
madness of his despair, he engages in a deadly combat with his 
gentler brother, Balan, whom he meets unknown in the woods. 
Each brother mortally wounds the other; then each recognizes 
his opponent and they die in each other's arms. 

"Balin and Balan" serves to introduce the bright baleful star, 
Vivien, a woman thoroughly bad without the extenuating love of 

96 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 97 

Guinevere. She comes to the court, which in Gareth's time would 
have repelled her, makes wicked lightnings of her eyes, and strikes 
down Merlin, Arthur's mage, the type of earthly wisdom. 

In " Lancelot and Elaine'' the sin spreads out as a blackening 
cloud and brings death to the innocent Elaine. Elaine, living 
in fantasy, is the Lady of Shalott over again. She is happy 
until she sees Sir Lancelot. "The pure heart of youth has lovelier 
imaginations than any experience of life can bring, sweeter and 
more varied fantasies than any genius that has sinned and sor- 
rowed. But they are always silent." — Stopford Brooke. 

Elaine the fair, Elaine the lovable, 

Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat, 

High in her chamber up a tower to the east 

Guarded the sacred shield of Lancelot; 

Which first she placed where morning's earliest ray 5 

Might strike it, and awake her with the gleam; 

Then fearing rust or soilure fashion' d for it 

A case of silk, and braided thereupon 

All the devices blazon'd on the shield 

In their own tinct, and added, of her wit, 10 

A border fantasy of branch and flower, 

And yellow-throated nestling in the nest. 

Nor rested thus content, but day by day, 

Leaving her household and good father, climb'd 

That eastern tower, and entering barr'd her door, 15 

Stript off the case, and read the naked shield, 

Now guess'd a hidden meaning in his arms, 

Now made a pretty history to herself 

Of every dint a sword had beaten in it, 

And every scratch a lance had made upon it, 20 

Conjecturing when and where: this cut is fresh; 



98 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

That ten years back; this dealt him at Caerlyle; 

That at Caerleon; this at Camelot: 

And ah, God's mercy, what a stroke was there! 

And here a thrust that might have kilFd, but God 25 

Broke the strong lance, and rolPd his enemy down, 

And saved him: so she lived in fantasy. 

How came the lily maid by that good shield 
Of Lancelot, she that knew not even his name? 
He left it with her, when he rode to tilt 30 

For the great diamond in the diamond jousts, 
Which Arthur had ordain' d, and by that name 
Had named them, since a diamond was the prize. 

For Arthur, long before they crown' d him King, 
Roving the trackless realms of Lyonnesse, 35 

Had found a glen, gray boulder and black tarn. 
A horror lived about the tarn, and clave 
Like its own mists to all the mountain side : 
For here two brothers, one a king, had met 
And fought together; but their names were lost; 40 

And each had slain his brother at a blow; 
And down they fell and made the glen abhorr'd: 
And there they lay till all their bones were bleach'd, 
And lichen'd into color with the crags: 
And he that once was king had on a crown 45 

Of diamonds, one in front and four aside. 
And Arthur came, and laboring up the pass, 
All in a misty moonshine, unawares 
Had trodden that crown'd skeleton, and the skull 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 99 

Brake from the nape, and from the skull the crown so 

Roll'd into light, and turning on its rims 

Fled like a glittering rivulet to the tarn : 

And down the shingly scaur he plunged, and caught, 

And set it on his head, and in his heart 

Heard murmurs, "Lo, thou likewise shalt be king." 55 

Thereafter, when a king, he had the gems 
Pluck'd from the crown, and show'd them to his knights 
Saying: " These jewels, whereupon I chanced 
Divinely, are the kingdom's, not the King's — 
For public use: henceforward let there be, 60 

Once every year, a joust for one of these: 
For so by nine years' proof we needs must learn 
Which is our mightiest, and ourselves shall grow 
In use of arms and manhood, till we drive 
The heathen, who, some say, shall rule the land 65 

Hereafter, which God hinder!" Thus he spoke: 
And eight years past, eight jousts had been, and still 
Had Lancelot won the diamond of the year, 
With purpose to present them to the Queen 
When all were won; but, meaning all at once 70 

To snare her royal fancy with a boon 
Worth half her realm, had never spoken word. 

Now for the central diamond and the last 
And largest, Arthur, holding then his court 
Hard on the river nigh the place which now 75 

Is this world's hugest, let proclaim a joust 
At Camelot, and when the time drew nigh 



100 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Spake — for she had been sick — to Guinevere : 
"Are you so sick, my Queen, you cannot move 
To these fair jousts?" " Yea, lord," she said, "ye know 
it." 80 

"Then will ye miss," he answer 'd, "the great deeds 
Of Lancelot, and his prowess in the lists, 
A sight ye love to look on." And the Queen 
Lifted her eyes, and they dwelt languidly 
On Lancelot, where he stood beside the King. 85 

He, thinking that he read her meaning there, 
"Stay with me, I am sick; my love is more 
Than many diamonds," yielded; and a heart 
Love-loyal to the least w^ish of the Queen — 
However much he yearn'd to make complete 90 

The tale of diamonds for his destined boon — 
Urged him to speak against the truth, and say, 
"Sir King, mine ancient wound is hardly whole, 
And lets me from the saddle;" and the King 
Glanced first at him, then her, and went his way. 95 
No sooner gone than suddenly she began: 

"To blame, my lord Sir Lancelot, much to blame! 
Why go ye not to these fair jousts? the knights 
Are half of them our enemies, and the crowd 
Will murmur, 'Lo the shameless ones, who take 100 
Their pastime now the trustful King is gone!' " 
Then Lancelot, vext at having lied in vain: 
"Are ye so wise? ye were not once so wise, 
My Queen, that summer when ye loved me first. 
Then of the crowd ye took no more account 105 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 101 

Than of the myriad cricket of the mead, 

When its own voice clings to each blade of grass, 

And every voice is nothing. As to knights, 

Them surely can I silence with all ease. 

But now my loyal worship is allow'd no 

Of all men: many a bard, without offence, 

Has link'd our names together in his lay, 

Lancelot, the flower of bravery, Guinevere, 

The pearl of beauty; and our knights at feast 

Have pledged us in this union, while the King 115 

Would listen smiling. How then? is there more? 

Has Arthur spoken aught? or would yourself, 

Now weary of my service and devoir, 

Henceforth be truer to your faultless lord?" 

She broke into a little scornful laugh: 120 

" Arthur, my lord, Arthur, the faultless King, 
That passionate perfection, my good lord — 
But who can gaze upon the sun in heaven? 
He never spake word of reproach to me, 
He never had a glimpse of mine untruth, 125 

He cares not for me : only here to-day 
There gleamed a vague suspicion in his eyes : 
Some meddling rogue has tamper'd with him — else 
Rapt in this fancy of his Table Round, 
And swearing men to vows impossible, 130 

To make them like himself; but, friend, to me 
He is all fault who hath no fault at all : 
For who loves me must have a touch of earth ; 
The low sun makes the color : I am yours, 



102 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Not Arthur's, as ye know, save by the bond. 135 

And therefore hear my words: go to the jousts: 
The tiny-trumpeting gnat can break our dream 
When sweetest; and the vermin voices here 
May buzz so loud — we scorn them, but they sting. " 

Then answered Lancelot, the chief of knights: 140 
"And with what face, after my pretext made, 
Shall I appear, Queen, at Camelot, I 
Before a king who honors his own word 
As if it were his God's?" 

" Yea/' said the Queen, 
"A moral child without the craft to rule, 145 

Else had he not lost me: but listen to me, 
If I must find you wit: we hear it said 
That men go down before your spear at a touch, 
But knowing you are Lancelot; your great name, 
This conquers: hide it therefore; go unknown:. 150 

Win! by this kiss you will: and our true King 
Will then allow your pretext, O my knight, 
As all for glory; for to speak him true, 
Ye know right well, how meek soe'er he seem, 
No keener hunter after glory breathes. iss 

He loves it in his knights more than himself; 
They prove to him his work: win and return." 

Then got Sir Lancelot suddenly to horse, 
Wroth at himself. Not willing to be known, 
He left the barren-beaten thoroughfare, ieo 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 103 

Chose the green path that show'd the rarer foot, 

And there among the solitary downs, 

Full often lost in fancy, lost his way; 

Till as he traced a faintly-shadowed track, 

That all in loops and links among the dales 165 

Ran to the Castle of Astolat, he saw 

Fired from the west, far on a hill, the towers. 

Thither he made, and blew the gateway horn. 

Then came an old, dumb, myriad-wrinkled man, 

Who let him into lodging and disarmed. 170 

And Lancelot marvelPd at the wordless man; 

And issuing found the Lord of Astolat 

With two strong sons, Sir Torre and Sir Lavaine, 

Moving to meet him in the castle court; 

And close behind them stept the lily maid 175 

Elaine, his daughter : mother of the house 

There was not. Some light jest among them rose 

With laughter dying down as the great knight 

Approach'd them; then the Lord of Astolat: 

" Whence comest thou, my guest, and by what 

name iso 

Li vest between the lips? for by thy state 
And presence I might guess thee chief of those, 
After the King, who eat in Arthur's halls. 
Him have I seen: the rest, his Table Round, 
Known as they are, to me they are unknown. " 185 

Then answer'd Lancelot, the chief of knights: 
" Known am I, and of Arthur's hall, and known, 
What I by mere mischance have brought, my shield. 



104 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

But since I go to joust as one unknown 

At Camelot for the diamond, ask me not; 190 

Hereafter ye shall know me — and the shield — 

I pray you lend me one, if such you have, 

Blank, or at least with some device not mine." 

Then said the Lord of Astolat: "Here is Torre's: 
Hurt in his first tilt was my son, Sir Torre; 195 

And so, God wot, his shield is blank enough. 
His ye can have." Then added plain Sir Torre, 
" Yea, since I cannot use it, ye may have it." 
Here laugh'd the father saying: "Fie, Sir Churl, 
Is that an answer for a noble knight? 200 

Allow him! but Lavaine, my younger here, 
He is so full of lustihood, he will ride, 
Joust for it, and win, and bring it in an hour, 
And set it in this damsel's golden hair, 
To make her thrice as wilful as before." 205 

"Nay, father, nay, good father, shame me not 
Before this noble knight," said young Lavaine, 
"For nothing. Surely I but play'd on Torre: 
He seem'd so sullen, vext he could not go: 
A jest, no more! for, knight, the maiden dreamt 210 
That some one put this diamond in her hand, 
And that it was too slippery to be held, 
And slipt and fell into some pool or stream, 
The castle- well, belike; and then I said 
That if I went and if I fought and won it — 215 

But all was jest and joke among ourselves — 






LANCELOT AND ELAINE 105 

Then must she keep it safelier. All was jest. 

But, father, give me leave, an if he will, 

To ride to Camelot with this noble knight : 

Win shall I not, but do my best to win; 220 ' 

Young as I am, yet would I do my best." 

"So ye will grace me/' answer'd Lancelot, 
Smiling a moment, "with your fellowship 
O'er these waste downs whereon I lost myself, 
Then were I glad of you as guide and friend: 225 

And you shall win this diamond, — as I hear, 
It is a fair large diamond, — if ye may, 
And yield it to this maiden, if ye will." 
"A fair large diamond," added plain Sir Torre, 
"Such be for queens, and not for simple maids." 230 
Then she, who held her eyes upon the ground, 
Elaine, and heard her name so tost about, 
Flush' d slightly at the slight disparagement 
Before the stranger knight, who, looking at her, 
Full courtly, yet not falsely, thus returned: 235 

"If what is fair be but for what is fair, 
And only queens are to be counted so, 
Rash were my judgment then, who deem this maid 
Might wear as fair a jewel as is on earth, 
Not violating the bond of like to like." 240 

He spoke and ceased: the lily maid Elaine, 
Won by the mellow voice before she look'd, 
Lifted her eyes and read his lineaments. 
The great and guilty love he bare the Queen, 



106 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

In battle with the love he bare his lord, 245 

Had marr'd his face, and marked it ere his time. 

Another sinning on such heights with one, 

The flower of all the west and all the world, 

Had been the sleeker for it; but in him 

His mood was often like a fiend, and rose 250 

And drove him into wastes and solitudes 

For agony, who was yet a living soul. 

Marr'd as he was, he seem'd the goodliest man 

That ever among ladies ate in hall, 

And noblest, when she lifted up her eyes. 255 

However marr'd, of more than twice her years, 

Seam'd with an ancient sword-cut on the cheek, 

And bruised and bronzed, she lifted up her eyes 

And loved him, with that love which was her doom. 

Then the great knight, the darling of the court, 260 
Loved of the loveliest, into that rude hall 
Stept with all grace, and not with half disdain 
Hid under grace, as in a smaller time, 
But kindly man moving among his kind : 
Whom they with meats and vintage of their best 265 
And talk and minstrel melody entertain'd. 
And much they ask'd of court and Table Round, 
And ever well and readily answer'd he; 
But Lancelot, when they glanced at Guinevere, 
Suddenly speaking of the wordless man, 270 

Heard from the baron that, ten years before, 
The heathen caught and reft him of his tongue. 
"He learnt and warn'd me of their fierce design 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 107 

Against my house, and him they caught and maim'd; 
But I, my sons, and little daughter fled 275 

From bonds or death, and dwelt among the woods 
By the great river in a boatman's hut. 
Dull days were those, till our good Arthur broke 
The Pagan yet once more on Badon hill." 

" there, great lord, doubtless/' Lavaine said, rapt 
By all the sweet and sudden passion of youth 28 1 

Toward greatness in its elder, "you have fought. 
O, tell us — for we live apart — you know 
Of Arthur's glorious wars." And Lancelot spoke 
And answer'd him at full, as having been 285 

With Arthur in the fight which all day long- 
Rang by the white mouth of the violent Glem; 
And in the four loud battles by the shore 
Of Duglas; that on Bassa; then the war 
That thunder'd in and out the gloomy skirts 290 

Of Celidon the forest; and again 
By Castle Gurnion, where the glorious King 
Had on his cuirass worn our Lady's Head, 
Carved of one emerald centred in a sun 
Of silver rays, that lighten'd as he breathed; 295 

And at Caerleon had he helped his lord, 
When the strong neighings of the wild White Horse 
Set every gilded parapet shuddering; 
And up in Agned-Cathregonion too, 
And down the waste sand-shores of Trath Treroit, 300 
Where many a heathen fell; "and on the mount 
Of Badon I myself beheld the King 



108 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Charge at the head of all his Table Round, 

And all his legions crying Christ and him, 

And break them; and I saw him, after, stand 305 

High on a heap of slain, from spur to plume 

Red as the rising sun with heathen blood, 

And seeing me, with a great voice he cried, 

'They are broken, they are broken!' for the King, 

However mild he seems at home, nor cares 310 

For triumph in our mimic wars, the jousts — 

For if his own knight casts him down, he laughs, 

Saying his knights are better men than he — 

Yet in this heathen war the fire of God 

Fills him: I never saw his like; there lives 315 

No greater leader/' 

While he utter'd this, 
Low to her own heart said the lily maid, 
"Save your great self, fair lord"; and when he fell 
From talk of war to traits of pleasantry — 
Being mirthful he, but in a stately kind — 320 

She still took note that when the living smile 
Died from his lips, across him came a cloud 
Of melancholy severe, from which again, 
Whenever in her hovering to and fro 
The lily maid had striven to make him cheer, 325 

There brake a sudden-beaming tenderness 
Of manners and of nature : and she thought 
That all was nature, all, perchance, for her. 
And all night long his face before her lived, 
As when a painter, poring on a face, 330 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 109 

Divinely thro' all hindrance finds the man 

Behind it, and so paints him that his face, 

The shape and color of a mind and life, 

Lives for his children, ever at its best 

And fullest; so the face before her lived, 335 

Dark-splendid, speaking in the silence, full 

Of noble things, and held her from her sleep, 

Till rathe she rose, half -cheated in the thought 

She needs must bid farewell to sweet Lavaine. 

First as in fear, step after step, she stole 340 

Down the long tower-stairs, hesitating : 

Anon, she heard Sir Lancelot cry in the court, 

"This shield, my friend, where is it?" and Lavaine 

Past inward, as she came from out the tower. 

There to his proud horse Lancelot turn'd, and smoothed 

The glossy shoulder, humming to himself. 346 

Half -envious of the flattering hand, she drew 

Nearer and stood. He looked, and, more amazed 

Than if seven men had set upon him, saw 

The maiden standing in the dewy light. 350 

He had not dream'd she was so beautiful. 

Then came on him a sort of sacred fear, 

For silent, tho' he greeted her, she stood 

Rapt on his face as if it were a god's. 

Suddenly flashed on her a wild desire 355 

That he should wear her favor at the tilt. 

She braved a riotous heart in asking for it. 

"Fair lord, whose name I know not — noble it is, 

I well believe, the noblest — will you wear 

My favor at this tourney?" "Nay," said he, 360 



110 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

"Fair lady, since I never yet have worn 

Favor of any lady in the lists. 

Such is my wont, as those who know me know." 

"Yea, so," she answered; "then in wearing mine 

Needs must be lesser likelihood, noble lord, 36.5 

That those who know should know you." And he 

turn'd 
Her counsel up and down within his mind, 
And found it true, and answer'd: "True, my child. 
Well, I will wear it: fetch it out to me: 
What is it?" and she told him, "A red sleeve 370 

Broider'd with pearls," and brought it: then he bound 
Her token on his helmet, with a smile 
Saying, "I never yet have done so much 
For any maiden living," and the blood 
Sprang to her face and fill'd her with delight; 375 

But left her all the paler when Lavaine 
^etufmng brought the yet-uiiblazon'd shield, 
His brother's; which he gave to Lancelot, 
Who parted with his own to fair Elaine : 
"Do me this grace, my child, to have my shield 3so 
In keeping till I come." "A grace to me," 
She answer'd, "twice to-day. I am your squire!" 
Whereat Lavaine said laughing: "Lily maid, 
For fear our people call you lily maid 
In earnest, let me bring your color back; 385 

Once, twice, and thrice: now get you hence to bed" : 
So kiss'd her, and Sir Lancelot his own hand, 
And thus they moved away : she staid a minute, 
Then made a sudden step to the gate, and there — 



1 






LANCELOT AND ELAINE 111 

Her bright hair blown about the serious face 390 

Yet rosy-kindled with her brother's kiss — 

Paused by the gateway, standing near the shield 

In silence, while she watch' d their arms far-off 

Sparkle, until they dipt below the downs. 

Then to her tower she climb'd, and took the shield, 

There kept it, and so lived in fantasy. 396 

Meanwhile the new companions past away 
Far o'er the long backs of the bushless downs, 
To where Sir Lancelot knew there lived a knight 
Not far from Camelot, now for forty years 400 

A hermit, who had pray'd, labor'd and pray'd, 
And ever laboring had scoop'd himself 
In the white rock a chapel and a hall 
On massive columns, like a shore-cliff cave, 
And cells and chambers: all were fair and dry; 405 

The green light from the meadows underneath % > , $ 
Struck up and lived along the milky roofs; 
And in the meadows tremulous aspen-trees 
And poplars made a noise of falling showers. 
And thither wending there that night they bode. 410 

But when the next day broke from underground, 
And shot red fire and shadows thro' the cave, 
They rose, heard mass, broke fast, and rode away. 
Then Lancelot saying, "Hear, but hold my name 
Hidden, you ride with Lancelot of the Lake," 415 

Abash'd Lavaine, whose instant reverence, 
Dearer to true young hearts than their own praise, 



112 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

But left him leave to stammer, "Is it indeed?" 

And after muttering, "The great Lancelot/ ' 

At last he got his breath and answered: "One, 420 

One have I seen — that other, our liege lord, 

The dread Pendragon, Britain's King of kings, 

Of whom the people talk mysteriously, 

He will be there — then were I stricken blind 

That minute, I might say that I had seen." 425 

So spake Lavaine, and when they reach'd the lists 
By Camelot in the meadow, let his eyes 
Run thro' the peopled gallery which half round 
Lay like a rainbow fallen upon the grass, 
Until they found the clear-faced King, who sat 430 

Robed in red samite, easily to be known, 
Since to his crown the golden dragon clung, 
And down his robe the dragon writhed in gold, 
And from the carven-work behind him crept 
Two dragons gilded, sloping down to make 435 

Arms for his chair, while all the rest of them 
Thro' knots and loops and folds innumerable 
Fled ever thro' the woodwork, till they found 
The new design wherein they lost themselves, 
Yet with all ease, so tender was the work: 440 

And, in the costly canopy o'er him set, 
Blazed the last diamond of the nameless king. 

Then Lancelot answer'd young Lavaine and said: 
"Me you call great: mine is the firmer seat, 
The truer lance : but there is many a youth 445 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 113 

Now crescent, who will come to all I am 

And overcome it; and in me there dwells 

No greatness, save it be some far-off touch 

Of greatness to know well I am not great: 

There is the man." And Lavaine gaped upon him 450 

As on a thing miraculous, and anon 

The trumpets blew; and then did either side, 

They that assaiPd, and they that held the lists, 

Set lance in rest, strike spur, suddenly move, 

Meet in the midst, and there «o furiously 455 

Shock that a man far-off might ^ell perceive, 

If any man that day were left afield, 

The hard earth shake, and a low thunder of arms. 

And Lancelot bode a little, till he saw 

Which were the weaker; then he hurPd into it 460 

Against the stronger: little need to speak 

Of Lancelot in his glory! King, duke, earl, 

Count, baron — whom he smote, he overthrew. 

But in the field were Lancelot's kith and kin, 
Ranged with the Table Round that held the lists, 465 
Strong men, and wrathful that a stranger knight 
Should do and almost overdo the deeds 
Of Lancelot; and one said to the other, "Lo! 
What is he? I do not mean the force alone — 
The grace and versatility of the man! 470 

Is it not Lancelot?" "When has Lancelot worn 
Favor of any lady in the lists? 
Not such his wont, as we that know him know." 
"How then? who then?" a fury seized them all, 



114 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

A fiery family passion for the name 

Of Lancelot, and a glory one with theirs. 

They couch'd their spears and prick'd their steeds, and 

thus, 

Their plumes driven backward by the wind they made 
In moving, all together dow r n upon him 
Bare, as a wild wave in the wide North Sea, 4so 

Green-glimmering toward the summit, bears, with all 
Its stormy crests that smoke against the skies, 
Down on a bark, and v,\'erbears the bark 
And him that helms it ; so they overbore 
Sir Lancelot and his charger, and a spear 485 

Down-glancing lamed the charger, and a spear 
Prick'd sharply his own cuirass, and the head 
Pierced thro' his side, and there snapt and remaki'd. 

Then Sir Lavaine did well and worshipf ully : 
He bore a knight of old repute to the earth, 490 

And brought his horse to Lancelot where he lay. 
He up the side, sweating with agony, got, 
But thought to do while he might yet endure, 
And being lustily holpen by the rest, 
His party, — tho' it seem'd half-miracle 495 

To those he fought with, — drave his kith and kin, 
And all the Table Round that held the lists, 
Back to the barrier; then the trumpets blew 
Proclaiming his the prize who wore the sleeve 
Of scarlet and the pearls; and all the knights, 500 

His party, cried, " Advance and take thy prize 
The diamond"; but he answered: "Diamond me 






LANCELOT AND ELAINE 115 

No diamonds! for God's love, a little air! 
Prize me no prizes, for my prize is death ! 
Hence will I, and I charge you, follow me not." 505 

He spoke, and vanished suddenly from the field 
With young Lavaine into the poplar grove. 
There from his charger down he slid, and sat, 
Gasping to Sir Lavaine, "Draw the lance-head. " 
"Ah, my sweet lord Sir Lancelot," said Lavaine, 510 
"I dread me, if I draw it, you wii t die." 
But he, "I die already with it: dra.w — 
Draw," — and Lavaine drew, and Sir Lancelot gave 
A marvellous great shriek and ghastly groan, 
And half his blood burst forth, and down he sank 515 
For the pure pain, and wholly swoon'd away. 
Then came the hermit out and bare him in, 
There stanch'd his wound; and there, in daily doubt 
Whether to live or die, for many a week 
Hid from the wild world's rumor by the grove 520 

Of poplars with their noise of falling showers, 
And ever-tremulous aspen-trees, he lay. 

But on that day when Lancelot fled the lists, 
His party, knights of utmost North and West, 
Lords of waste marshes, kings of desolate isles, 525 

Came round their great Pendragon, saying to him, 
"Lo, Sire, our knight, thro' whom we won the day, 
Hath gone sore wounded, and hath left his prize 
Untaken, crying that his prize is death." 
"Heaven hinder," said the King, "that such an one, 530 



116 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

So great a knight as we have seen to-day — 
He seem'd to me another Lancelot — 
Yea, twenty times I thought him Lancelot — 
He must not pass uncared for. Wherefore rise, 

Gawain, and ride forth and find the knight. 535 
Wounded and wearied, needs must he be near. 

1 charge you that you get at once to horse. 

And, knights and kings, there breathes not one of 

you 
Will deem this prize "J[ ours is rashly given: 
His prowess was too wondrous. We will do him 540 
No customary honor : since the knight 
Came not to us, of us to claim the prize, 
Ourselves will send it after. Rise and take 
This diamond, and deliver it, and return, 
And bring us where he is, and how he fares, 545 

And cease not from your quest until ye find." 

So saying, from the carven flower above, 
To which it made a restless heart, he took 
And gave the diamond : then from where he sat 
At Arthur's right, with smiling face arose, 550 

With smiling face and frowning heart, a prince 
In the mid might and flourish of his May, 
Gawain, surnamed the Courteous, fair and strong, 
And after Lancelot, Tristram, and Geriant, 
And Gareth, a good knight, but therewithal 555 

Sir Modred's brother, and the child of Lot, 
Xor often loyal to his word, and now 
Wroth that the King's command to sally forth 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 117 

In quest of whom he knew not, made him leave 

The banquet and concourse of knights and kings. 560 

So all in wrath he got to horse and went; 
While Arthur to the banquet, dark in mood, 
Past, thinking, "Is it Lancelot who hath come 
Despite the wound he spake of, all for gain 
Of glory, and hath added wound to wound, 565 

And ridden away to die?" So fcar'd the King, 
And, after two days' tarriance ttiere, return'd. 
Then when he saw the Queen, embracing ask'd, 
"Love, are you yet so sick?" "Nay, lord," she 

said. 
" And where is Lancelot? " Then the Queen amazed, 570 
"Was he not with you? won he not your prize?" 
"Nay, but one like him." "Why, that like was 

he." 
And when the King demanded how she knew, 
Said: "Lord, no sooner had ye parted from us 
Than Lancelot told me of a common talk 575 

That men went down before his spear at a touch, 
But knowing he was Lancelot; his great name 
Conquered; and therefore would he hide his name 
From all men, even the King, and to this end 
Had made the pretext of a hindering wound, 580 

That he might joust unknown of all, and learn 
If his old prowess were in aught decayed; 
And added, 'Our true Arthur, when he learns, 
Will well allow my pretext, as for gain 
Of purer glory/" 



118 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Then replied the King: 585 

"Far lovelier in our Lancelot had it been, 
In lieu of idly dallying with the truth, 
To have trusted me as he hath trusted thee. 
Surely his King and most familiar friend 
Might well have kept his secret. True, indeed, 
Albeit I know my knights fantastical, 
So fine a fear in our large Lancelot 
Must needs have moved my laughter: now re- 
mains 
But little cause for laughter : his own kin — 
111 news, my Queen, for all who love him, this! — 595 
His kith and kin, not knowing, set upon him; 
So that he went sore wounded from the field. 
Yet good news too ; for goodly hopes are mine 
That Lancelot is no more a lonely heart. 
He wore, against his wont, upon his helm 600 

A sleeve of scarlet, broider'd with great pearls, 
Some gentle maiden's gift." 



"Yea, lord," she said, 
"Thy hopes are mine," and saying that, she choked, 
And sharply turn'd about to hide her face, 
Past to her chamber, and there flung herself 605 

Down on the great King's couch, and writhed upon 

it, 
And clench'd her fingers till they bit the palm, 
And shriek'd out "Traitor!" to the unhearing wall, 
Then flashed into wild tears, and rose again, 
And moved about her palace, proud and pale. gio 



" 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 119 

Gawain the while thro' all the region round 
Rode with his diamond, wearied of the quest, 
Touch'd at all points except the poplar grove, 
And came at last, tho' late, to Astolat; 
Whom glittering in enamelFd arms the maid 615 

Glanced at, and cried, " What news from Camelot, lord? 
What of the knight with the red sleeve? " " He won." 
"I knew it," she said. "But parted from the jousts 
Hurt in the side;" whereat she caught her breath; 
Thro' her own side she felt the sharp lance go ; 620 

Thereon she smote her hand; wellnigh she swoon'd: 
And, while he gazed wonderingly at her, came 
The Lord of Astolat out, to whom the prince 
Reported who he was, and on what quest 
Sent, that he bore the prize and could not find 625 

The victor, but had ridden a random round 
To seek him, and had wearied of the search. 
To whom the Lord of Astolat: "Bide with us, 
And ride no more at random, noble prince! 
Here was the knight, and here he left a shield; 630 

This will he send or come for : furthermore 
Our son is with him; we shall hear anon, 
Needs must we hear." To this the courteous prince 
Accorded with his wonted courtesy, 
Courtesy with a touch of traitor in it, oa? 

And staid; and cast his eyes on fair Elaine; 
Where could be found face daintier? then her shape 
From forehead down to foot, perfect — again 
From foot to forehead exquisitely turn'd: 
"Well — if I bide, lo! this wild flower for me!" 640 



120 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And oft they met among the garden yews, 
And there he set himself to play upon her 
With sallying wit, free flashes from a height 
Above her, graces of the court, and songs, 
Sighs, and low smiles, and golden eloquence 645 

And amorous adulation, till the maid 
RebelPd against it, saying to him: " Prince, 
loyal nephew of our noble King, 
Why ask you not to see the shield he left, 
Whence you might learn his name? Why slight your 
King, 650 

And lose the quest he sent you on, and prove 
No surer than our falcon yesterday, 
Who lost the hern we slipt her at, and went 
To all the winds?" "Nay, by mine head," said he, 
"I lose it, as we lose the lark in heaven, 655 

O damsel, in the light of your blue eyes; 
But an ye will it let me see the shield." 
And when the shield was brought, and Gawain saw 
Sir Lancelot's azure lions, crown'd with gold, 
Ramp in the field, he smote his thigh, and mock'd: 660 
" Right was the King! our Lancelot! that true man!" 
"And right was I," she answer'd merrily, "I, 
Who dream'd my knight the greatest knight of all." 
"And if I dream'd," said Gawain, "that you love 
This greatest knight, your pardon! lo, ye know it! 665 
Speak therefore: shall I waste myself in vain?" 
Full simple was her answer: "What know I? 
My brethren have been all my fellowship; 
And I, when often they have talk'd of love, 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 121 

Wished it had been my mother, for they talk'd, 670 

Meseem'd, of what they knew not; so myself — 

I know not if I know what true love is, 

But if I know, then, if I love not him, 

I know there is none other I can love." 

" Yea, by God's death," said he, "ye love him well, 

But would not, knew ye what all others know, 676 

And whom he loves." "So be it," cried Elaine, 

And lifted her fair face and moved away : 

But he pursued her, calling, "Stay a little! 

One golden minute's grace! he wore your sleeve: 680 

Would he break faith with one I may not name? 

Must our true man change like a leaf at last? 

Nay — like enow: why then, far be it from me 

To cross our mighty Lancelot in his loves! 

And, damsel, for I deem you know full well 685 

Where your great knight is hidden, let me leave 

My quest with you; the diamond also: here! 

For if you love, it will be sweet to give it; 

And if he love, it will be sweet to have it 

From your own hand; and whether he love or not, 690 

A diamond is a diamond. Fare you well 

A thousand times! — a thousand times farewell! 

Yet, if he love, and his love hold, we two 

May meet at court hereafter : there, I think, 

So ye will learn the courtesies of the court, 695 

We two shall know each other." 

Then he gave, 
And slightly kiss'd the hand to which he gave, 



122 IDYLLS OF TILE KING 

The diamond, and all wearied of the quest 

Leapt on his horse, and carolling as he went 

A true-love ballad, lightly rode away. 700 

Thence to the court he past; there told the King 
What the King knew, "Sir Lancelot is the knight." 
And added, "Sire, my liege, so much I learnt; 
But fail'd to find him, tho' I rode all round 
The region: but I lighted on the maid 705 

Whose sleeve he wore; she loves him; and to her, 
Deeming our courtesy is the truest law, 
I gave the diamond: she will render it; 
For by mine head she knows his hiding-place." 

The seldom-frowning King frown'd, and replied, 710 
"Too courteous truly! ye shall go no more 
On quest of mine, seeing that ye forget 
Obedience is the courtesy due to kings." 

He spake and parted. Wroth, but all in awe, 
For twenty strokes of the blood, without a word, 715 
Lingered that other, staring after him; 
Then shook his hair, strode off, and buzz'd abroad 
About the maid of Astolat, and her love. 
All ears were prick'd at once, all tongues were loosed: 
"The maid of Astolat loves Sir Lancelot, 720 

Sir Lancelot loves the maid of Astolat." 
Some read the King's face, som^ the Queen's, and all 
Had marvel what the maid might be, but most 
Predoom'd her as unworthy. One old dame 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 123 

Came suddenly on the Queen with the sharp news. 725 

She, that had heard the noise of it before, 

But sorrowing Lancelot should have stoop'd so low, 

Marr'd her friend's aim with pale tranquillity. 

So ran the tale like fire about the court, 

Fire in dry stubble a nine-days' wonder flared: 730 

Till even the knights at banquet twice or thrice 

Forgot to drink to Lancelot and the Queen, 

And pledging Lancelot and the lily maid 

Smiled at each other, while the Queen, who sat 

With lips severely placid, felt the knot 735 

Climb in her throat, and with her feet unseen 

Crush'd the wild passion out against the floor 

Beneath the banquet, where the meats became 

As wormwood and she hated all who pledged, ^j 

But far away the maid in Astolat, 740 

Her guiltless rival, she that ever kept 
The one-day-seen Sir Lancelot in her heart, 
Crept to her father, while he mused alone, 
Sat on his knee, stroked his gray face and said: 
" Father, you call me wilful, and the fault 745 

Is yours who let me have my will, and now, 
Sweet father, will you let me lose my wits?" 
"Nay," said he, " surely." " Wherefore, let me hence," 
She answer'd, "and find out our dear Lavaine." 
" Ye will not lose your wits for dear Lavaine: 750 

Bide," answer'd he: "Ave needs must hear anon 
Of him, and of that other." " Ay," she said, 
"And of that other, for I needs must hence 



124 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And find that other, wherso'er he be, 

And with mine own hand give his diamond to him, 755 

Lest I be found as faithless in the quest 

As yon proud prince who left the quest to me. 

Sweet father, I behold him in my dreams 

Gaunt as it were the skeleton of himself, 

Death-pale, for the lack of gentle maiden's aid. 760 

The gentler-born the maiden, the more bound, 

My father, to be sweet and serviceable 

To noble knights in sickness, as ye know, 

When these have worn their tokens : let me hence, 

I pray you." Then her father nodding said: 765 

"Ay, ay, the diamond: wit ye well, my child, 

Right fain were I to learn this knight were whole, 

Being our greatest: yea, and you must give it — 

And sure I think this fruit is hung too high 

For any mouth to gape for save a queen's — 770 

Nay, I mean nothing: so then, get you gone, 

Being so very wilful you must go." 

Lightly, her suit allow' d, she slipt away, 
And while she made her ready for her ride 
Her father's" latest word humm'd in her ear, 775 

"Being so very wilful you must go," 
And changed itself and echo'd in her heart, 
"Being so very wilful you must die." 
But she was happy enough and shook it off, 
As we shake off the bee that buzzes at us; 780 

And in her neart she answer'd it and said, 
"What matter, so I help him back to life?" 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 125 

Then far away with good Sir Torre for guide 

Rode o'er the long backs of the bushless downs 

To Camelot, and before the city-gates 785 

Came on her brother with a happy face 

Making a roan horse caper and curvet 

For pleasure all about a field of flowers ; 

Whom when she saw, "Lavaine," she cried, "Lavaine, 

How fares my lord Sir Lancelot?" He amazed, 790 

" Torre and Elaine! why here? Sir Lancelot! 

How know ye my lord's name is Lancelot?" 

But when the maid had told him all her tale, 

Then turn'd Sir Torre, and being in his moods 

Left them, and under the strange-statued gate, 795 

Where Arthur's wars were render'd mystically, 

Past up the still rich city to his kin, 

His own far blood, which dwelt at Camelot; 

And her, Lavaine across the poplar grove 

Led to the caves : there first she saw the casque soo 

Of Lancelot on the wall : her scarlet sleeve, 

Tho' carved and cut, and half the pearls away, 

Stream'd from it still; and in her heart she laugh'd, 

Because he had not loosed it from his helm, 

But meant once more perchance to tourney in it. 805 

And when they gain'd the cell wherein he slept, 

His battle-writhen arms and mighty hands 

Lay naked on the wolf-skin, and a dream 

Of dragging down his enemy made them move. 

Then she that saw him lying unsleek, unshorn, 810 

Gaunt as it were the skeleton of himself, 

Utter'd a little tender dolorous cry. 



126 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

The sound not wonted in a place so still 

Woke the sick knight, and while he rolPd his eyes 

Yet blank from sleep, she started to him, saying, sis 

" Your prize the diamond sent you by the King." 

His eyes glisten'd: she fancied, "Is it for me?" 

And when the maid had told him all the tale 

Of king and prince, the diamond sent, the quest 

Assign'd to her not worthy of it, she knelt 820 

Full lowly by the corners of his bed, 

And laid the diamond in his open hand. 

Her face was near, and as we kiss the child 

That does the task assigned, he kiss'd her face. 

At once she slipt like water to the floor. 825 

"Alas," he said, "your ride hath wearied you. 

Rest must you have." "No rest for me," she said, 

"Nay, for near you, fair lord, I am at rest." 

What might she mean by that? his large black 

eyes, 
Yet larger thro' his leanness, dwelt upon her, 830 

Till all her heart's sad secret blazed itself 
In the heart's colors on her simple face; 
And Lancelot look'd and w r as perplext in mind 
And being weak in body said no more, 
But did not love the color; woman's love, 835 

Save one, he not regarded, and so turn'd 
Sighing, and feign'd a sleep until he slept. 

Then rose Elaine and glided thro' the fields, 
And past beneath the weirdly-sculptured gates 
Far up the dim rich city to her kin; 840 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 127 

There bode the night: but woke with dawn, and past 

Down thro' the dim rich city to the fields, 

Thence to the cave. So day by day she past 

In either twilight ghost-like to and fro 

Gliding, and every day she tended him, 845 

And likewise many a night; and Lancelot 

Would, tho' he call'd his wound a little hurt 

Whereof he should be quickly whole, at times 

Brain-feverous in his heat and agony, seem 

Uncourteous, even he : but the meek maid 850 

Sweetly forbore him ever, being to him 

Meeker than any child to a rough nurse, 

Milder than any mother to a sick child, 

And never woman yet, since man's first fall, 

Did kindlier unto man, but her deep love 855 

Upbore her; till the hermit, skilPd in all 

The simples and the science of that time, 

Told him that her fine care had saved his life. 

And the sick man forgot her simple blush, 

Would call her friend and sister, sweet Elaine, 860 

Would listen for her coming and regret 

Her parting step, and held her tenderly, 

And loved her with all love except the love 

Of man and woman when they love their best, 

Closest and sweetest, and had died the death 865 

In any knightly fashion for her sake. 

And peradventure had he seen her first 

She might have made this and that other world 

Another world for the sick man; but now 

The shackles of an old love straitened him, 870 



128 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

His honor rooted in dishonor stood, 

And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. 

Yet the great knight in his mid-sickness made 
Full many a holy vow and pure resolve. 
These, as but born of sickness, could not live; 875 

For when the blood ran lustier in him again, 
Full often the bright image of one face, 
Making a treacherous quiet in his heart, 
Dispersed his resolution like a cloud. 
Then if the maiden, while that ghostly grace 880 

Beam'd on his fancy, spoke, he answered not, 
Or short and coldly, and she knew right well 
What the rough sickness meant, but what^this 

meant 
She knew not, and the sorrow dimm'd her sight, 
And drave her ere time across the fields 885 

Far into the rich city, where alone 
She murmur'd, "Vain, in vain: it cannot be. 
He will not love me: how then? must I die?" 
Then as a little helpless innocent bird, 
That has but one plain passage of few notes, 890 

Will sing the simple passage o'er and o'er 
For all an April morning, till the ear 
Wearies to hear it, so the simple maid 
Went half the night repeating, "Must I die?" 
And now to right she turn'd, and now to left, 895 

And found no ease in turning or in rest; 
And "Him or death," she mutter'd, "death or him," 
Again and like a burthen, "Him or death." 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 129 

But when Sir Lancelot's deadly hurt was whole, 
To Astolat returning rode the three. 900 

There morn by morn, arraying her sweet self 
In that wherein she deem'd she looked her best, 
She came before Sir Lancelot, for she thought, 
"If I be loved, these are my festal robes, 
If not, the victim's flowers before he fall." 905 

And Lancelot ever prest upon the maid 
That she should ask some goodly gift of him 
For her own self or hers: "and do not shun 
To speak the wish most near to your true heart; 
Such service have ye done me that I make 910 

My will of yours, and prince and lord am I 
In mine own land, and what I will I can." 
Then like a ghost she lifted up her face, 
But like a ghost without the power to speak. 
And Lancelot saw that she withheld her wish, 915 

And bode among them yet a little space 
Till he should learn it; and one morn it chanced 
He found her in among the garden yews, 
And said, "Delay no longer, speak your wish, 
Seeing I go to-day:" then out she brake: 920 

"Going? and we shall never see you more. 
And I must die for want of one bold word." 
"Speak: that I live to hear," he said, "is yours." 
Then suddenly and passionately she spoke : 
"I have gone mad. I love you: let me die." 925 

"Ah, sister," answer'd Lancelot, "what is this?" 
And innocently extending her white arms, 
"Your love," she said, "your love — to be your wife." 



130 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And Lancelot answer'd, "Had I chosen to wed, 

I had been wedded earlier, sweet Elaine; 930 

But now there never will be wife of mine." 

"No, no," she cried, "I care not to be wife, 

But to be with you still, to see your face, 

To serve you, and to follow you thro' the world." 

And Lancelot answer'd: "Nay, the world, the world, 

All ear and eye, with such a stupid heart 936 

To interpret ear and eye, and such a tongue 

To blare its own interpretation — nay, 

Full ill then should I quit your brother's love, 

And your good father's kindness." And she said, 940 

"Not to be with you, not to see your face — 

Alas for me then, my good days are done!" 

"Nay, noble maid," he answer'd, "ten times nay! 

This is not love, but love's first flash in youth, 

Most common: yea, I know it of mine own self; 945 

And you yourself will smile at your own self 

Hereafter, when you yield your flower of life 

To one more fitly yours, not thrice your age. 

And then will I, for true you are and sweet 

Beyond mine old belief in womanhood, 950 

More specially should your good knight be poor, 

Endow you with broad land and territory 

Even to the half my realm beyond the seas, 

So that would make you happy: furthermore, 

Even to the death, as tho' ye were my blood, 955 

In all your quarrels will I be your knight. 

This will I do, dear damsel, for your sake, 

And more than this I cannot." 






LANCELOT AND ELAINE 131 

While he spoke 
She neither blush'd nor shook, but deathly-pale 
Stood grasping what was nearest, then replied, 960 

"Of all this will I nothing "; and so fell, 
And thus they bore her swooning to her tower. 

Then spake, to whom thro' those black walls of yew 
Their talk had pierced, her father: "Ay, a flash, 
I fear me, that will strike my blossom dead. 965 

Too courteous are ye, fair Lord Lancelot. 
I pray you, use some rough discourtesy 
To blunt or break her passion." 

Lancelot said, 
"That were against me: what I can I will;" 
And there that day remain'd, and toward even 970 

Sent for his shield : full meekly rose the maid, 
Stript off the case, and gave the naked shield; 
Then, when she heard his horse upon the stones, 
Unclasping flung the casement back, and look'd 
Down on his helm, from which her sleeve had gone. 
And Lancelot knew the little clinking sound; 976 

And she by tact of love was well aware 
That Lancelot knew that she was looking at him. 
And yet he glanced not up, nor waved his hand, 
Nor bade farewell, but sadly rode away. 980 

This was the one discourtesy that he used. 

So in her tower alone the maiden sat : 
His very shield was gone; only the case, 



V* 



132 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Her own poor work, her empty labor, left. 

But still she heard him, still his picture formed 985 

And grew between her and the pictured wall. 

Then came her father, saying in low tones, 

"Have comfort/ ' whom she greeted quietly. 

Then came her brethren saying, "Peace to thee, 

Sweet sister/' whom she answered with all calm. 990 

But when they left her to herself again, 

Death, like a friend's voice from a distant field 

Approaching thro' the darkness, calFd; the owls 

Wailing had power upon her, and she mixt 

Her fancies with the sallow-rifted glooms 995 

Of evening and the moanings of the wind. 

And in those days she made a little song, 
And calFd her song "The Song of Love and Death," 
And sang it : sweetly could she make and sing. 

"Sweet is true love tho' given in vain, in vain; 1000 
And sweet is death who puts an end to pain: 
I know not which is sweeter, no, not I. 

"Love, art thou sweet? then bitter death must 
be: 
Love, thou art bitter; sweet is death to me. 

Love, if death be sweeter, let me die. 1005 

"Sweet love, that seems not made to fade away; 
Sweet death, that seems to make us loveless clay: 

1 know not which is sweeter, no, not I, 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 133* 

"I fain would follow love, if that could be; 
I needs must follow death, who calls for me; 1010 

C&ll and I follow, I follow! let me die.'* 

High with the last line scaled her voice, and this, 
All in a fiery dawning wild with wind 
That shook her tower, the brothers heard, and 

thought 
With shuddering, "Hark the Phantom of the house 1015 
That ever shrieks before a death/' and calFd 
The father, and all three in hurry and fear 
Ran to her, and lo ! the blood-red light of dawn 
Flared on her face, she shrilling, "Let me die!" 

As when we dwell upon a word we know, 1020 

Repeating, till the word we know so well 
Becomes a wonder, and we know not why 
So dwelt the father on her face, and thought, 
"Is this Elaine?" till back the maiden fell, 
Then gave a languid hand to each, and lay, 1025 

Speaking a still good-morrow with her eyes. 
At last she said: "Sweet brothers, yesternight 
I seem'd a curious little maid again, 
As happy as when we dwelt among the woods, 
And when ye used to take me with the flood 1030 

Up the great river in the boatman's boat. 
Only ye would not pass beyond the cape 
That has the poplar on it : there ye fixt 
Your limit, oft returning with the tide. 
And yet I cried because ye would not pass 1035 



134 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Beyond it, and far up the shining flood 

Until we found the palace of the King. 

And yet ye would not; but this night I dream'd 

That I was all alone upon the flood, 

And then I said, 'Now shall I have my will:' 1040 

And there I woke, but still the wish remained. 

So let me hence that I may pass at last 

Beyond the poplar and far up the flood, 

Until I find the palace of the King. 

There will I enter in among them all, 1045 

And no man there will dare to mock at me; 

But there the fine Gawain will wonder at me, 

And there the great Sir Lancelot muse at me; 

Gawain, who bade a thousand farewells to me, 

Lancelot, who coldly went, nor bade me one: 1050 

And there the King will know me and my love, 

And there the Queen herself will pity me, 

And all the gentle court will welcome me, 

And after my long voyage I shall rest!" 

" Peace," said her father, "O my child, ye seem 1055 
Light-headed, for what force is yours to go 
So far, being sick? and wherefore would ye look 
On this proud fellow again, who scorns us all?" 

Then the rough Torre began to heave and move, 
And bluster into stormy sobs and say: 1060 

"I never loved him: an I meet with him, 
I care not howsoever great he be, 
Then will I strike at him and strike him down; 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 135 

Give me good fortune, I will strike him dead, 

For this discomfort he hath done the house/ ' 1065 

To whom the gentle sister made reply : 
"Fret not yourself, dear brother, nor be wroth, 
Seeing- it is no more Sir Lancelot's fault 
Not to love me than it is mine to love 
Him of all men who seems to me the highest." 1070 

" Highest? " the father answer'd, echoing " highest? " — 
He meant to break the passion in her — "nay, 
Daughter, I know not what you call the highest; 
But this I know, for all the people know it, 
He loves the Queen, and in an open shame: 1075 

And she returns his love in open shame; 
If this be high, what is it to be low?" 

Then spake the lily maid of Astolat : 
"Sweet father, all too faint and sick am I 
For anger: these are slanders; never yet 1080 

Was noble man but made ignoble talk. 
He makes no friend who never made a foe. 
But now it is my glory to have loved 
One peerless, without stain : so let me pass, 
My father, howsoever I seem to you, 1085 

Not all unhappy, having loved God's best 
And greatest, tho' my love had no return: 
Yet, seeing you desire your child to live, 
Thanks, but you work against your own desire; 
For if I could believe the things you say 1090 



136 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

I should but die the sooner; wherefore cease, 
Sweet father, and bid call the ghostly man 
Hither, and let me shrive me clean and die." 

So when the ghostly man had come aud gone, 
She, with a. face bright as for sin forgiven, 1095 

Besought Lavaine to write as she devised 
A letter, word for word; and when he ask'd, 
"Is it for Lancelot, is it for my dear lord? 
Then will I bear it gladly"; she replied, 
"For Lancelot and the Queen and all the world, 1100 
But I myself must bear it." Then he wrote 
The letter she devised; which being writ 
And folded, "O sweet father, tender and true, 
Deny me not," she said — "ye never yet 
Denied my fancies — this, however strange, 1105 

My latest : lay the letter in my hand 
A little ere I die, and close the hand 
Upon it; I shall guard it even in death. 
And when the heat has gone from out my heart, 
Then take the little bed on which I died 1110 

For Lancelot's love, and deck it like the Queen's 
For richness, and me also like the Queen 
In all I have of rich, and lay me on it. 
And let there be prepared a chariot-bier 
To take me to the river, and a barge 1115 

Be ready on the river, clothed in black. 
I go in state to court, to meet the Queen. 
There surely I shall speak for mine own self, 
And none of you can speak for me so well. 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 137 

And therefore let our dumb old man alone 1120 

Go with me; he can steer and row, and he 
Will guide me to that palace, to the doors/ ' 

She ceased: her father promised; whereupon 
She grew so cheerful that they deem'd her death 
Was rather in the fantasy than the blood. 1125 

But ten slow mornings past, and on the eleventh 
Her father laid the letter in her hand, 
And closed the hand upon it, and she died. 
So that day there was dole in Astolat. 

But when the next sun brake from underground, 1130 
Then, those two brethren slowly with bent brows 
Accompanying, the sad chariot-bier 
Past like a shadow thro' the field, that shone 
Full-summer, to that stream whereon the barge, 
PalPd all its length in blackest samite, lay. 1135 

There sat the lifelong creature of the house, 
Loyal, the dumb old servitor, on deck, 
Winking his eyes, and twisted all his face. 
So those two brethren from the chariot took 
And on the black decks laid her in her bed, 1140 

Set in her hand a lily, o'er her hung 
The silken case with braided blazonings, 
And kiss'd her quiet brows, and saying to her, 
" Sister, farewell forever," and again, 
"Farewell, sweet sister," parted all in tears. 1145 

Then rose the dumb old servitor, and the dead, 
Oar'd by the dumb, went upward with the flood — 



138 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

In her right hand the lily, in her left 

The letter — all her bright hair streaming down — 

And all the coverlid was cloth of gold 1150 

Drawn to her waist, and she herself in white 

All but her face, and that clear-featured face 

Was lovely, for she did not seem as dead, 

But fast asleep, and lay as tho' she smiled. 

That day Sir Lancelot at the palace craved 1155 

Audience of Guinevere, to give at last 
The price of half a realm, his costly gift, 
Hard-won and hardly won with bruise and blow, 
With deaths of others, and almost his own, 
The nine-years-fought-for diamonds; for he saw 1160 
One of her house, and sent him to the Queen 
Bearing his wish, whereto the Queen agreed 
With such and so unmoved a majesty 
She might have seem'd her statue, but that he, 
Low-drooping till he wellnigh kiss'd her feet ii65 

For loyal awe, saw with a sidelong eye 
The shadow of some piece of pointed lace, 
In the Queen's shadow, vibrate on the walls, 
And parted, laughing in his courtly heart. 

All in an oriel on the summer side, 1170 

Vine-clad, of Arthur's palace toward the stream, 
They met, and Lancelot kneeling utter'd: " Queen, 
Lady, my liege, in whom I have my joy, 
Take, what I had not won except for you, 
Thv.se jewels, and make me happy, making them 1175 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 139 

An armlet for the roundest arm on earth, 

Or necklace for a neck to which the swan's 

Is tawnier than her cygnet's: these are words; 

Your beauty is your beauty, and I sin 

In speaking, yet O, grant my worship of it mo 

Words, as we grant grief tears. Such sin in words 

Perchance, we both can pardon; but, my Queen, 

I hear of rumors flying thro' your court. 

Our bond, as not the bond of man and wife, 

Should have in it an absoluter trust ii85 

To make up that defect : let rumors be : 

When did not rumors fly? these, as I trust 

That you trust me in your own nobleness, 

I may not well believe that you believe." 

While thus he spoke, half turn'd away, the Queen 1190 
Brake from the vast oriel-embowering vine 
Leaf after leaf, and tore, and cast them off, 
Till all the place whereon she stood was green; 
Then, when he ceased, in one cold passive hand 
Received at once and laid aside the gems 1195 

There on a table near her, and replied: 

"It may be I am quicker of belief 
Than you believe me, Lancelot of the Lake. 
Our bond is not the bond of man and wife. 
This good is in it, whatsoe'er of ill, 1200 

It can be broken easier. I for you 
This many a year have done despite and wrong 
To one whom ever in my heart of hearts 



140 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

I did acknowledge nobler. What are these? 

Diamonds for me! they had been thrice their worth 1205 

Being your gift, had you not lost your own. 

To loyal hearts the value of all gifts 

Must vary as the giver's. Not for me! 

For her! for your new fancy. Only this 

Grant me, I pray you: have your joys apart. 1210 

I doubt not that, however changed, you keep 

So much of what is graceful : and myself 

Would shun to break those bounds of courtesy 

In which as Arthur's Queen I move and rule; 

So cannot speak my mind. An end to this! 1215 

A strange one! yet I take it with Amen. 

So pray you, add my diamonds to her pearls; 

Deck her with these; tell her, she shines me down: 

An armlet for an arm to which the Queen's 

Is haggard, or a necklace for a neck 1220 

O, as much fairer — as a faith once fair 

Was richer than these diamonds — hers not mine — 

Nay, by the mother of our Lord himself, 

Or hers or mine, mine now to work my will — 

She shall not have them." 

Saying which she seized, 1225 
And, thro' the casement standing wide for heat, 
Flung them, and down they flash'd, and smote the stream. 
Then from the smitten surface flash'd, as it were, 
Diamonds to meet them, and they past away. 
Then while Sir Lancelot leant, in half disdain 1230 

At love, life, all things, on the window ledge, 






LANCELOT AND ELAINE 141 

Close underneath his eyes, and right across 

Where these had fallen, slowly past the barge 

Whereon the lily maid of Astolat 

Lay smiling, like a star in blackest night. 12.35 



But the wild Queen, who saw not, burst away 
To weep and wail in secret; and the barge, 
On to the palace-doorway sliding, paused. 
There two stood arm'd, and kept the door; to whom, 
All up the marble stair, tier over tier, 1240 

Were added mouths that gaped, and eyes that ask'd, 
"What is it?" but that oarsman's haggard face, 
As hard and still as is the face that men 
Shape to their fancy's eye from broken rocks 
On some cliff-side, appall'd them, and they said: 1245 
"He is enchanted, cannot speak — and she, 
Look how she sleeps — the Fairy Queen, so fair! 
Yea, but how pale ! what are they? flesh and blood? 
Or come to take the King to Fairyland? 
For some do hold our Arthur cannot die, 1250 

But that he passes into Fairyland." 

While thus they babbled of the King, the King 
Came girt with knights: then turned the tongueless man 
From the half-face to the full eye, and rose 
And pointed to the damsel and the doors. 1255 

So Arthur bade the meek Sir Percivale 
And pure Sir Galahad to uplift the maid; 
And reverently they bore her into hall. 
Then came the fine Gawain and wonder'd at her, 



142 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And Lancelot later came and mused at her, 1260 

And last the Queen herself, and pitied her; 

But Arthur spied the letter in her hand, 

Stoopt, took, brake seal, and read it; this was all: 

"Most noble lord, Sir Lancelot of the Lake, 
I, sometime calPd the maid of Astolat, 1205 

Come, for you left me taking no farewell, 
Hither, to take my last farewell of you. 
I loved you, and my love had no return, 
And therefore my true love has been my death. 
And therefore to our Lady Guinevere, 1270 

And to all other ladies, I make moan : 
Pray for my soul, and yield me burial. 
Pray for my soul thou too, Sir Lancelot, 
As thou art a knight peerless. " 

Thus he read; 
And ever in the reading lords and dames 1275 

Wept, looking often from his face who read 
To hers which lay so silent, and at times, 
So touch' d were they, half-thinking that her lips 
Who had devised the letter moved again. 

Then freely spoke Sir Lancelot to them all : 1280 

"My lord liege Arthur, and all ye that hear, 
Know that for this most gentle maiden's death 
Right heavy am I; for good she was and true, 
But loved me with a love beyond all love 
In women, whomsoever I have known, 1285 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 143 

Yet to be loved makes not to love again; 

Not at my years, however it hold in youth. 

I swear by truth and knighthood that I gave 

No cause, not willingly, for such a love. 

To this I call my friends in testimony, 1290 

Her brethren, and her father, who himself 

Besought me to be plain and blunt, and use, 

To break her passion, some discourtesy 

Against my nature : what I could, I did. 

I left her and I bade her no farewell; 1295 

Tho', had I dreamt the damsel would have died, 

I might have put my wits to some rough use, 

And help'd her from herself." 

Then said the Queen — 
Sea was her wrath, yet working after storm: 
" Ye might at least have done her so much grace, 1300 
Fair lord, as would have help'd her from her death." 
He raised his head, their eyes met and hers fell, 
He adding: 

" Queen, she would not be content 
Save that I wedded her, which could not be. 
Then might she follow me thro' the world, she ask'd; 
It could not be. I told her that her love 1306 

Was but the flash of youth, would darken down, 
To rise hereafter in a stiller flame 
Toward one more worthy of her — then would I, 
More specially were he she wedded poor, 1310 

Estate them with large land and territory 
In mine own realm beyond the narrow seas, 



144 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

To keep them in all joyance: more than this 
I could not; this she would not, and she died." 

• He pausing, Arthur answered: "O my knight, 1315 
It will be to thy worship, as my knight, 
And mine, as head of all our Table Round, 
To see that she be buried worshipfully." 

So toward that shrine w^hich then in all the realm 
Was richest, Arthur leading, slowly went 1320 

The marshalPd Order of their Table Round, 
And Lancelot sad beyond # his wont, to see 
The maiden buried, not as one unknown, 
Nor meanly, but with gorgeous obsequies, 
And mass, and rolling music, like a queen. 1325 

And when the knights had laid her comely head 
Low in the dust of half-forgotten kings, 
Then Arthur spake among them: "Let her tomb 
Be costly, and her image thereupon, 
And let the shield of Lancelot at her feet 1330 

Be carven, and her lily in her hand. 
And let the story of her dolorous voyage 
For all true hearts be blazon' d on her tomb 
In letters gold and azure!" which was wrought 
Thereafter; but when now the lords and dames 1335 
And people, from the high door streaming, brake 
Disorderly, as homeward each, the Queen, 
Who marked Sir Lancelot where he moved apart, 
Drew near, and sigh'd in passing, " Lancelot, 
Forgive me; mine was jealousy in love." 1340 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 145 

He answered with his eyes upon the ground, 
"That is love's curse; pass on, my Queen, forgiven." 
But Arthur, who beheld his cloudy brows, 
Approached him, and with full affection said: 

"Lancelot, my Lancelot, thou in whom I have 1345 
Most joy and most affiance, for I know 
What thou hast been in battle by my side, 
And many a time have watch'd thee at the tilt 
Strike down the lusty and long practised knight 
And let the younger and unskilPd go by 1350 

To win his honor and to make his name, 
And loved thy courtesies and thee, a man 
Made to be loved; but now I would to God, 
Seeing the homeless trouble in thine eyes, 
Thou cduldst have loved this maiden, shaped, it seems, 
By God for thee alone, and from her face, 1356 

If one may judge the living by the dead, 
Delicately pure and marvellously fair, 
Who might have brought thee, now a lonely man 
Wifeless and heirless, noble issue, sons i3eo 

Born to the glory of thy name and fame, 
My knight, the great Sir Lancelot of the Lake." 

Then answered Lancelot: "Fair she was, my King, 
Pure, as you ever wish your knights to be. 
To doubt her fairness were to want an eye, 1365 

To doubt her pureness were to want a heart — 
Yea, to be loved, if what is worthy love 
Could bind him, but free love will not be bound." 



146 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

"Free love, so bound, were freest," said the King. 
"Let love be free; free love is for the best: 1370 

And, after heaven, on our dull side of death, 
What should be best, if not so pure a love 
Clothed in so pure a loveliness? yet thee 
She faiFd to bind, tho' being, ^as I think, 
Unbound as yet, and gentle, as I know." 1375 

And Lancelot answer'd nothing, but he went, 
And at the inrunning of a little brook 
Sat by the river in a cove, and watch'ci 
The high reed wave, and lifted up his eyes 
And saw the barge that brought her moving down, 1380 
Far-off, a blot upon the stream, and said 
Low in himself: "Ah, simple heart and sweet, 
Ye loved me, damsel, surely with a love 
Far tenderer than my Queen's. Pray for thy soul? 
Ay, that will I. Farewell too — now at last — 1385 

Farewell, fair lily. ' Jealousy in love?' 
Not rather dead love's harsh heir, jealous pride? 
Queen, if I grant the jealousy as of love, 
May not your crescent fear for name and fame 
Speak, as it waxes, of a love that wanes? 1390 

Why did the King dwell on my name to me? 
Mine own name shames me, seeming a reproach, 
Lancelot, whom the Lady of the Lake 
Caught from his mother's arms — the wondrous one 
Who passes thro' the vision of the night — 1395 

She chanted snatches of mysterious hymns 
Heard on the winding waters, eve and morn 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 147 

She kiss'd me saying, 'Thou art fair, my child, 

As a king's son/ and often in her arms 

She bare me, pacing on the dusky mere. 1400 

Would she had drown'd me in it, where'er it be! 

For what am I? what profits me my name 

Of greatest knight? I fought for it, and have it: 

Pleasure to have it, none; to lose it, pain: 

Now grown a part of me : but what use in it? 1405 

To make men worse by making my sin known? 

Or sin seem less, the sinner seeming great? 

Alas for Arthur's greatest knight, a man 

Not after Arthur's heart! I needs must break 

These bonds that so defame me: not without 1410 

She wills it: would I, if she will'd it? nay, 

Who knows? but if I would not, then may God, 

I pray him, send a sudden angel down 

To seize me by the hair and bear me far, 

And fling me deep in that forgotten mere, 1415 

Among the tumbled fragments of the hills." 

So groan'd Sir Lancelot in remorseful pain, 
Not knowing he should die a holy man. 



GUINEVERE 

"Lancelot and Elaine" is followed by "The Holy Grail." The 
search for the holy vessel from which Christ drank at the Last 
Supper is emblematic of the Christianity of the Dark and Middle 
Ages, which sought salvation in seclusion from humanity. Here 
again the interest centers in Lancelot, to whom the vessel with 
its healing powers becomes a scourge of fiery wrath. In contrast 
with the knights whose rash vows send them out to follow wan- 
dering fires, is Arthur, who finds in his allotted tasks visions of 
exalting spiritual assurance. 

The ranks of Arthur's knights, decimated by the quest, are 
filled by new men, among them Pelleas, the Gareth of the later 
Idylls. But no longer does a healthful people live in Arthur's 
realm. The court is poisoned by sin in high place. "Pelleas and 
Ettarre" and "The Last Tournament" are revolting stories, 
needful to be told, perhaps, to show the utter degradation of the 
realm. 

"Guinevere" begins with the King's discovery of his wife's 



Queen Guinevere had fled the court, and sat 
There in the holy house at Almesbury 
Weeping, none with her save a little maid, 
A novice: one low light betwixt them burn'd 
Blurr'd by the creeping mist, for all abroad, 
Beneath a moon unseen albeit at full, 
The white mist, like a face-cloth to the face, 
Clung to the dead earth, and the land was still, 

148 



GUINEVERE 149 

For hither had she fled, her cause of flight 
Sir Modred; he that like a subtle beast 10 

Lay couchant with his eyes upon the throne, 
Ready to spring, watting a chance : for this 
He chilPd the popular praises of the King 
With silent smiles of slow disparagement; 
And tamper'd with the Lords of the White Horse, 15 
Heathen, the brood by Hengist left; and sought 
To make disruption in the Table Round 
Of Arthur, and to splinter it into feuds 
Serving his traitorous end; and all his aims 
Were sharpen'd by strong hate for Lancelot. 20 

For thus it chanced one morn when all the court, 
Green-suited, but with plumes that mock'd the may, 
Had been — their wont — a-maying and return'd, 
That Modred still in green, all ear and eye, 
Climb'd to the high top of the garden-wall 25 

To spy some secret scandal if he might, 
And saw the Queen who sat betwixt her best 
Enid and lissome Vivien, of her court 
The wiliest and the worst; and more than this 
He saw not, for Sir Lancelot passing by 30 

Spied where he couch'd, and as the gardener's hand 
Picks from the colewort a green caterpillar, 
So from the high wall and the flowering grove 
Of grasses Lancelot pluck'd him by the heel, 
And cast him as a worm upon the way; 35 

But when he knew the prince tho' marr'd with dust, 
He, reverencing king's blood in a bad man, 



150 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Made such excuses as he might, and these 

Full knightly without scorn : for in those days 

No knight of Arthur's noblest dealt in scorn; 40 

But, if a man were halt, or hunch'd, in him 

By those whom God had made full-limb'd and tall, 

Scorn was allowed as part of his defect, 

And he was answer'd softly by the King 

And all his Table. So Sir Lancelot holp 45 

To raise the prince, who rising twice or thrice 

Full sharply smote his knees, and smiled, and went: 

But, ever after, the small violence done 

Rankled in him and ruffled all his heart, 

As the sharp wind that ruffles all day long 50 

A little bitter pool about a stone 

On the bare coast. 

But when Sir Lancelot told 
This matter to the Queen, at first she laugh'd 
Lightly, to think of Modred's dusty fall, 
Then shudder'd, as the village wife who cries, 55 

"I shudder, some one steps across my grave ;" 
Then laugh'd again, but faintlier, for indeed 
She half-foresaw that he, the subtle beast, 
Would track her guilt until he found, and hers 
Would be for evermore a name of scorn. 60 

Henceforward rarely could she front in hall, 
Or elsewhere, Modred's narrow foxy face, 
Heart-hiding smile, and gray persistent eye. 
Henceforward too, the Powers that tend the soul, 
To help it from the death that cannot die, 65 



GUINEVERE 151 

And save it even in extremes, began 

To vex and plague her. Many a time for hours, 

Beside the placid breathings of the King, 

In the dead night, grim faces came and went 

Before her, or a vague spiritual fear — 70 

Like to some doubtful noise of creaking doors, 

Heard by the watcher in a haunted house, 

That keeps the rust of murder on the walls — 

Held her awake: or if she slept she dream'd 

An awful dream; for then she seem'd to stand 75 

On some vast plain before a setting sun, 

And from the sun there swiftly made at her 

A ghastly something, and its shadow flew 

Before it till it touch'd her, and she turn'd — 

When lo ! her own, that broadening from her feet, so 

And blackening, swallow' d all the land, and in it 

Far cities burnt, and with a cry she woke. 

And all this trouble did not pass but grew, 

Till even the clear face of the guileless King, 

And trustful courtesies of household life, 85 

Became her bane; and at the last she said, 

"O Lancelot, get thee hence to thine own land, 

For if thou tarry we shall meet again, 

And if we meet again some evil chance 

Will make the smouldering scandal break and blaze 00 

Before the people and our lord the King." 

And Lancelot ever promised, but remained, 

And still they met and met. Again she said, 

"0 Lancelot, if thou love me get thee hence." 

And then they were agreed upon a night — 95 



152 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

When the good King should not be there — to meet 

And part for ever. Vivien, lurking, heard. 

She told Sir Modred. Passion-pale they met 

And greeted. Hands in hands, and eye to eye, 

Low on the border of her couch they sat 100 

Stammering and staring. It was their last hour, 

A madness of farewells. And Modred brought 

His creatures to the basement of the tower 

For testimony; and crying with full voice, 

" Traitor, come out, ye are trapt at last," aroused 105 

Lancelot, who rushing outward lionlike 

Leapt on him, and hurPd him headlong, and he fell 

Stunn'd, and his creatures took and bare him off, 

And all was still. Then she, "The end is come, 

And I am shamed for ever"; and he said: 110 

"Mine.be the shame; mine was the sin: but rise, 

And fly to my strong castle over-seas : 

There will I hide thee till my life shall end, -— *•» 

There hold thee with my life against the world." 

She answer'd: " Lancelot, wilt thou hold me so? 115 

Nay, friend, for we have taken our farewells. 

Would God that thou couldst hide me from myself! 

Mine is the shame, for I was wife, and thou 

Unwedded; yet rise now, and let us fly, 

For I will draw me into sanctuary, 120 

And bide my doom." So Lancelot got her horse, 

Set her thereon, and mounted on his own, 

And then they rode to the divided way, 

There kiss'd, and parted weeping: for he past, 

Love-loyal to the least wish of the Queen, 125 



I 






GUINEVERE 153 

Back to his land; but she to Almesbury 

Fled all night long by glimmering waste and weald, 

And heard the spirits of the waste and .weald 

Moan as she fled, or thought she heard thefri moan: 

And in herself she moan'd, "Too late, too late!" 130 

Till in the cold wind that foreruns the morn, 

A blot in heaven, the raven, flying high, 

Croak'd, and she thought, "He spies a field of death; 

For now the heathen of the Northern Sea, 

Lured by the crimes and frailties of the court, 135 

Begin to slay the folk and spoil the land." 

And when she came to Almesbury she spake 
There to the nuns, and said, "Mine enemies 
Pursue me, but, O peaceful Sisterhood, 
Receive and yield me sanctuary, nor ask 140 

Her name to whom ye yield it till her time 
To tell you"; and her beauty, grace, and power 
Wrought as a charm upon them, and they spared 
To ask it. 

So the stately Queen abode 
For many a week, unknown, among the nuns, 145 

Nor with them mix'd, nor told her name, nor sought, 
Wrapt in her grief, for housel or for shrift, 
But communed only with the little maid, 
Who pleased her with a babbling heedlessness 
Which often lured her from herself; but now, 150 

This night, a rumor wildly blown about 
Came that Sir Modred had usurp'd the realm 



154 IDYLLS OF THE KIXG 

And leagued him with the heathen, while the King 

Was waging war on Lancelot: then she thought, 

" With what a hate the people and the King 155 

Must hate me," and bow'd down upon her hands 

Silent, until the little maid, who brook'd 

No silence, brake it, uttering "Late! so late! 

What hour, I wonder now?" and when she drew 

No answer, by and by began to hum igo 

An air the nuns had taught her: "Late, so late!" 

Which when she heard, the Queen look'd up, and 

said, 
"O maiden, if indeed ye list to sing, 
Sing, and unbind my heart that I may weep." 
Whereat full willingly sang the little maid. 165 

"Late, late, so late! and dark the night and chill! 
Late, late, so late! but we can enter still. 
Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now. 

"No light had we: for that we do repent, 
And learning this, the bridegroom will relent. 170 

Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now. 

"No light: so late! and dark and chill the night! 
O, let us in, that we may find the light! 
Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now! 

"Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet? 175 
O, let us in, tho' late, to kiss his feet! 
No, no, too late! ye cannot enter now." 



GUINEVERE 155 

So sang the novice, while full passionately, 
Her head upon her hands, remembering 
Her thought when first she came, wept the sad Queen. 
Then said the little novice prattling to her: isi 

"O pray you, noble lady, weep no more; 
But let my words- — the words of one so small, 
Who knowing nothing knows but to obey, 
And if I do not there is penance given — iss 

Comfort your sorrows; for they do not flow 
From evil done : right sure am I of that, 
Who see your tender grace and stateliness. 
But weigh your sorrows with our lord the King's, 
And weighing find them less; for gone is he 190 

To wage grim war against Sir Lancelot there, 
Round that strong castle where he holds the Queen; 
And Modred whom he left in charge of all, 
The traitor — Ah, sweet lady, the King's grief 
For his own self, and his own Queen, and realm, 195 
Must needs be thrice as great as any of ours ! 
For me, I thank the saints, I am not great; 
For if there ever come a grief to me 
I cry my cry in silence, and have done : 
None knows it, and my tears have brought me good. 
But even were the griefs of little ones 201 

As great as those of great ones, yet this grief 
Is added to the griefs the great must bear, 
That, howsoever much they may desire 
Silence, they cannot weep behind a cloud; 205 

As even here they talk at Almesbury 



156 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

About the good King and his wicked Queen, 

And were I such a King with such a Queen, 

Well might I wish to veil her wickedness, 

But were I such a King it could not be." 210 

Then to her own sad heart mutter'd the Queen, 
"Will the child kill me with her innocent talk?" 
But openly she answer'd, "Must not I, 
If this false traitor have displaced his lord, 
Grieve with the common grief of all the realm?" 215 

"Yea," said the maid, "this is all woman's grief, 
That she is woman, whose disloyal life 
Hath wrought confusion in the Table Round 
Which good King Arthur founded, years ago, 
With signs and miracles and wonders, there 220 

At Camelot, ere the coming of the Queen." 

Then thought the Queen within herself again, 
"Will the child kill me with her foolish prate?" 
But openly she spake and said to her, 
"0 little maid, shut in by nunnery walls, 225 

What canst thou know of Kings and Tables Round, 
Or what of signs and wonders, but the signs 
And simple miracles of thy nunnery?" 

To whom the little novice garrulously : 
"Yea, but I know: the land was full of signs 230 

And wonders ere the coming of the Queen. 
So said my father, and himself was knight 



GUINEVERE 157 

Of the great Table — at the founding of it, 

And rode thereto from Lyonnesse; and he said 

That as he rode, an hour or maybe twain 235 

After the sunset, down the coast, he heard 

Strange music, and he paused, and turning — there, 

All down the lonely coast of Lyonnesse, 

Each with a beacon-star upon his head, 

And with a wild sea-light about his feet, 240 

He saw them — headland after headland flame 

Far on into the rich heart of the west : 

And in the light the white mermaiden swam, 

And strong man-breasted things stood from the sea, 

And sent a deep sea-voice thro' all the land, 245 

To which the little elves of chasm and cleft 

Made answer, sounding like a distant horn. 

So said my father — yea, and furthermore, 

Next morning, while he past the dim-lit woods, 

Himself beheld three spirits mad with joy 250 

Come dashing down on a tall wayside flower, 

That shook beneath them as the thistle shakes 

When three gray linnets wrangle for the seed: 

And still at evenings on before his horse 

The flickering fairy-circle wheePd and broke 255 

Flying, and link'd again, and wheePd and broke 

Flying, for all the land was full of life. 

And when at last he came to Camelot, 

A wreath of airy dancers hand-in-hand 

Swung round the lighted lantern of the hall; 260 

And in the hall itself was such a feast 

As never man had dream'd; for every knight 



158 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Had whatsoever meat he long'd for served 

By hands unseen; and even as he said 

Down in the cellars merry bloated things 265 

Shoulder'd the spigot, straddling on the butts 

While the wine ran: so glad were spirits and men 

Before the coming of the sinful Queen." 

Then spake the Queen and somewhat bitterly, 
"Were they so glad? ill prophets were they all, 270 

Spirits and men : could none of them foresee, 
Not even thy wise father with his signs 
And wonders, what has fallen upon the realm?" 

To whom the novice garrulously again: 
"Yea, one, a barcl; of whom my father said, 275 

Full many a noble war-song had he sung, 
Even in the presence of an enemy's fleet, 
Between the steep cliff and the coming wave; 
And many a mystic lay of life and death 
Had chanted on the smoky mountain-tops, 280 

When round him bent the spirits of the hills 
With all their dewy hair blown back like flame. 
So said my father — and that night the bard 
Sang Arthur's glorious wars, and sang the King 
As wellnigh more than man, and rail'd at those 280 
Who call'd him the false son of Gorlois: 
For there was no man knew from whence he came ; 
But after tempest, when the long wave broke 
All down the thundering shores of Bude and Bos, 
There came a day as still as heaven, and then 290 



GUINEVERE 159 

They found a naked child upon the sands 

Of dark Tintagil by the Cornish sea, 

And that was Arthur; and they foster'd him 

Till he by miracle was appro ven King : 

And that his grave should be a mystery 295 

From all men, like his birth; and could he find 

A woman in her womanhood as great 

As he was in his manhood, then, he sang, 

The twain together well might change the world. 

But even in the middle of his song 300 

He falter'd, and his hand fell from the harp, 

And pale he turn'd, and reePd, and would have 

fallen, 
But that they stay'd him up; nor would he tell 
His vision; but what doubt that he foresaw 
This evil work of Lancelot and the Queen? " 305 

Then thought the Queen, "Lo! they have set her 
on, 
Our simple-seeming abbess and her nuns, 
To play upon me," and bow'd her head nor spake. 
Whereat the novice crying, with clasp'd hands, 
Shame on her own garrulity garrulously, 310 

Said the good nuns would check her gadding tongue 
Full often, "and, sweet lady, if I seem 
To vex an ear too sad to listen to me, 
Unmannerly, with prattling and the tales 
Which my good father told me, check me too 315 

Nor let me shame my father's memory, one 
Of noblest manners, tho' himself would say 



160 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Sir Lancelot had the noblest; and he died, 

Kiird in a tilt, come next, five summers back, 

And left me; but of others who remain, 320 

And of the two first-famed for courtesy — 

And pray you check me if I ask amiss — 

But pray you, which had noblest, while you moved 

Among them, Lancelot or our lord the King?" 

Then the pale Queen look'd up and answer'd 
her: 
"Sir Lancelot, as became a noble knight, 326 

Was gracious to all ladies, and the same 
In open battle or the tilting-field 
Forbore his own advantage, and the King 
In open battle or the tilting-field 330 

Forbore his own advantage, and these two 
Were the most nobly-mannered men of all; 
For manners are not idle, but the fruit 
Of loyal nature and of noble mind." 

"Yea," said the maid, "be manners such fair 
fruit? 
Then Lancelot's needs must be a thousand-fold 336 

Less noble, being, as all rumor runs, 
The most disloyal friend in all the world." 



1 



To which a mournful answer made the Queen: 
"O, closed about by narrowing nunnery-walls, 340 

What knowest thou of the world and all its lights 
And shadows, all the wealth and all the woe? 






GUINEVERE 161 

If ever Lancelot, that most noble knight, 

Were for one hour less noble than himself, 

Pray for him that he scape the doom of fire, 345 

And weep for her who drew him to his doom." 

"Yea," said the little novice, "I pray for both; 
But I should all as soon believe that his, 
Sir Lancelot's, were as noble as the King's, 
As I could think, sweet lady, yours would be 350 

Such as they are, were you the sinful Queen.' ' 

So she, like many another babbler, hurt 
Whom she would soothe, and harm'd where she would 

heal; 
For here a sudden flush of wrathful heat 
Fired all the pale face of the Queen, who cried: 355 
"Such as thou art be never maiden more 
For ever! thou their tool, set on to plague 
And play upon and harry me, petty spy 
And traitress!" When that storm of anger brake 
From Guineverej aghast the maiden rose, 360 

White as her veil, and stood before the Queen 
As tremulously as foam upon the beach 
Stands in a wind, ready to break and fly, 
And when the Queen had added, "Get thee hence!" 
Fled frighted. Then that other left alone 365 

Sigh'd, and began to gather heart again, 
Saying in herself: "The simple, fearful child 
Meant nothing, but my own too-fearful guilt, 
Simpler than any child, betrays itself, 






162 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

But help me, Heaven, for surely I repent! 370 

For what is true repentance but in thought — 

Not even in inmost thought to think again 

The sins that made the past so pleasant to us? 

And I have sworn never to see him more, 

To see him more." 

And even in saying this, 375 

Her memory from old habit of the mind 
Went slipping back upon the golden days 
In which she saw him first, when Lancelot came, 
Reputed the best knight and goodliest man, 
Ambassador, to yield her to his lord 380 

Arthur, and led her forth, and far ahead 
Of his and her retinue moving, they, 
Rapt in sweet talk or lively, all on love 
And sport and tilts and pleasure, — for the time 
Was may-time, and as yet no sin was dream'd, — 385 
Rode under groves that look'd a paradise 
Of blossom, over sheets of hyacinth 
That seem'd the heavens upbreaking thro' the earth, 
And on from hill to hill, and every day 
Beheld at noon in some delicious dale 390 

The silk pavilions of King Arthur raised 
For brief repast or afternoon repose 
By couriers gone before; and on again, 
Till yet once more ere set of sun they saw 
The Dragon of the great Pendragonship, 395 

That crown'd the state pavilion of the King, 
Blaze by the rushing brook or silent well. 



GUINEVERE 163 

But when the Queen immersed in such a trance, 
And moving thro' the past unconsciously, 
Came to that point where first she saw the King 400 
Ride toward her from the city, sigh'd to find 
Her journey done, glanced at him, thought him cold, 
High, self-contain'd, and passionless, not like him, 
"Not like my Lancelot" — while she brooded thus 
And grew half-guilty in her thoughts again, 405 

There rode an armed warrior to the doors. 
A murmuring whisper thro' the nunnery ran, 
Then on a sudden a cry, "The King!" She sat 
Stiff-stricken, listening; but when armed feet 
Thro' the long gallery from the outer doors 410 

Rang coming, prone from off her seat she fell, 
And grovelPd with her face against the floor. 
There with her milk-white arms and shadowy hair 
She made her face a darkness from the King, 
And in the darkness heard his armed feet 415 

Pause by her; then came silence, then a voice, 
Monotonous and hollow like a ghost's 
Denouncing judgment, but, tho' changed, the King's: 

"Liest thou here so low, the child of one 
I honor'd, happy, dead before thy shame? 420 

Well is it that no child is born of thee. 
The children born of thee are sword and fire, 
Red ruin, and the breaking up of laws, 
The craft of kindred and the godless hosts 
Of heathen swarming o'er the Northern Sea; 425" 

Whom I, while yet Sir Lancelot, my right arm, 



164 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

The mightiest of my knights, abode with me, 

Have everywhere about this land of Christ 

In twelve great battles ruining overthrown. 

And knowest thou now from whence I come — from him, 

From waging bitter war with him; and he, 431 

That did not shun to smite me in worse way, 

Had yet that grace of courtesy in him left, 

He spared to lift his hand against the King 

Who made him knight: but many a knight was slain; 

And many more and all his kith and kin 436 

Clave to him, and abode in his own land. 

And man}^ more when Modred raised revolt, 

Forgetful of their troth and fealty, clave 

To Modred, and a remnant stays with me. 440 

And of this remnant will I leave a part, 

True men who love me still, for whom I live, 

To guard thee in the wild hour coming on, 

Lest but a hair of this low head be harm'd. 

Fear not: thou shalt be guarded till my death. 445 

Howbeit I know, if ancient prophecies 

Have err'd not, that I march to meet my doom. 

Thou hast not made my life so sweet to me, 

That I the King should greatly care to live; 

For thou hast spoilt the purpose of my life. 450 

Bear with me for the last time while I show, 

Even for thy sake, the sin which thou hast sinn'd 

For when the Roman left us, and their law 

Relax' d its hold upon us, and the ways 

Were filPd with rapine, here and there a deed 

Of prowess done redress'd a random wrong. 



GUINEVERE 165 

But I was first of all the kings who drew 

The knighthood-errant of this realm and all 

The realms together under me, their Head, 

In that fair Order of my Table Round, 460 

A glorious company, the flower of men, 

To serve as mfodel for the mighty world, 

And be the fair beginning of a time. 

I made them lay their hands in mine and swear 

To reverence the King, as if he were 465 

Their conscience, and their conscience as their King, 

To break the heathen and uphold the Christ, 

To ride abroad redressing human wrongs, 

To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it, 

To honor his own word as if his God's, 470 

To lead sweet lives in purest chastity, 

To love one maiden only, cleave to her, 

And worship her by years of noble deeds, 

Until they won her; for indeed I knew 

Of no more subtle master under heaven 475 

Than is the maiden passion for a maid, 

Not only to keep down the base in man, 

But teach high thought, and amiable words 

And courtliness, and the desire of fame, 

And love of truth, and all that makes a man. 480 

And all this throve before I wedded thee, 

Believing, 'Lo, mine helpmate, one to feel 

My purpose and rejoicing in my joy!' 

Then came thy shameful sin with Lancelot ; 

Then came the sin of Tristram and Isolt; 485 

Then others, following these my mightiest knights, 



166 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And drawing foul ensample from fair names, 

Sinn'd also, till the loathsome opposite 

Of all my heart had destined did obtain, 

And all thro' thee! so that this life of mine 490 

I guard as God's high gift from scathe and wrong, 

Not greatly care to lose; but rather think 

How sad it were for Arthur, should he live, 

To sit once more within his lonely hall, 

And miss the wonted number of my knights, 495 

And miss to hear high talk of noble deeds 

As in the golden days before thy sin. 

For which of us who might be left could speak 

Of the pure heart, nor seem to glance at thee? 

And in thy bowers of Camelot or of Usk 500 

Thy shadow still would glide from room to room, 

And I should evermore be vext with thee 

In hanging robe or vacant ornament, 

Or ghostly footfall echoing on the stair. 

For think not, tho' thou wouldst not love thy lord, 505 

Thy lord has wholly lost his love for thee. 

I am not made of so slight elements. 

Yet must I leave thee, woman, to thy shame. 

I hold that man the worst of public foes 

Who either for his own or children's sake, 

To save his blood from scandal, lets the wife 

Whom he knows false abide and rule the house: 

For being thro' his cowardice allow'd 

Her station, taken everywhere for pure, 

She like a new disease, unknown to men, 515 

Creeps, no precaution used, among the crowd, 



II 



GUINEVERE 167 

Makes wicked lightnings of her eyes, and saps 

The fealty of our friends, and stirs the pulse 

With devil's leaps, and poisons half the young. 

Worst of the worst were that man he that reigns! 520 

Better the King's waste hearth and aching heart 

Than thou reseated in thy place of light, 

The mockery of my people and their bane!" 

He paused, and in the pause she crept an inch 
Nearer, and laid her hands about his feet. 525 

Far off a solitary trumpet blew. 
Then waiting by the doors the war-horse neigh'd 
As at a friend's voice, and he spake again: 

" Yet think not that I come to urge thy crimes; 
I did not come to curse thee, Guinevere, 530 

I, whose vast pity almost makes me die 
To see thee, laying there thy golden head, 
My pride in happier summers, at my feet. 
The wrath which forced my thoughts on that fierce law, 
The doom of treason and the flaming death, — 535 

When first I learnt thee hidden here, — is past. 
The pang — which, while I weigh'd thy heart with one 
Too wholly true to dream untruth in thee, 
Made my tears burn — is also past — in part. 
And all is past, the sin is sinn'd, and I, 540 

Lo, I forgive thee, as Eternal God 
Forgives! do thou for thine own soul the rest. 
But how to take last leave of all I loved? 
golden hair, with which I used to play 



168 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Not knowing! O imperial-moulded form, 545 

And beauty such as never woman wore, 

Until it came a kingdom's curse with thee — 

I cannot touch thy lips, they are not mine, 

But Lancelot's; nay, they never were the King's. 

I cannot take thy hand; that too is flesh, 550 

And in the flesh thou hast sinn'd; and mine own flesh, 

Here looking down on thine polluted, cries, 

'I loathe thee ' : yet not less, Guinevere, 

For I was ever virgin save for thee, 

My love thro' flesh hath wrought into my life 555 

So far that my doom is, I love thee still. 

Let no man dream but that I love thee still. 

Perchance, and so thou purify thy soul, 

And so thou lean on our fair father Christ, 

Hereafter in that world where all are pure 060 

We two may meet before high God, and thou 

Wilt spring to me, and claim me thine, and know 

I am thine husband — not a smaller soul, 

Nor Lancelot, nor another. Leave me that, 

I charge thee, my last hope. Now must I hence. 565 

Thro' the thick night I hear the trumpet blow: 

They summon me their King to lead mine hosts 

Far down to that great battle in the west, 

Where I must strike against the man they call 

My sister's son — no kin of mine, who leagues 570 

With Lords of the White Horse, heathen, and knights, 

Traitors — and strike him dead, and meet myself 

Death, or I know not what mysterious doom. 

And thou remaining here wilt learn the event ; 






GUINEVERE 169 

But hither shall I never come again, 575 

Never lie by thy side, see thee no more — 
Farewell!" 

And while she grovelPd at his feet, 
She felt the King's breath wander o'er her neck, 
And in the darkness o'er her fallen head 
Perceived the waving of his hands that blest. 580 

Then, listening till those armed steps were gone, 
Rose the pale Queen, and in her anguish found 
The casement: " per ad venture," so she thought, 
"If I might see his face, and not be seen." 
And lo, he sat on horseback at the door! 585 

And near him the sad nuns with each a light 
Stood, and he gave them charge about the Queen, 
To guard and foster her for evermore. 
And while he spake to these his helm was lower'd, 
To which for crest the golden dragon clung 590 

Of Britain; so she did not see the face, 
Which then was as an angel's, but she saw, 
Wet with the mists and smitten by the lights, 
The Dragon of the great Pendragonship 
Blaze, making all the night a steam of fire. 595 

And even then he turn'd; and more and more 
The moony vapor rolling round the King, 
Who seem'd the phantom of a giant in it, 
Enwound him fold by fold, and made him gray 
And grayer, till himself became as mist 600 

Before her, moving ghostlike to his doom. 



170 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Then she stretch'd out her arms and cried aloud, 
"0 Arthur!" there her voice brake suddenly, 
Then — as a stream that spouting from a cliff 
Fails in mid air, but gathering at the base 605 

Re-makes itself, and flashes down the vale — 
Went on in passionate utterance : 

"Gone — my lord! 
Gone thro' my sin to slay and to be slain! 
And he forgave me, and I could not speak. 
Farewell? I should have answered his farewell. 6io 

His mercy choked me. Gone, my lord the King, 
My own true lord! how dare I call him mine? 
The shadow of another cleaves to me, 
And makes me one pollution : he, the King, 
CalPd me polluted: shall I kill myself? 615 

What help in that? I cannot kill my sin, 
If soul be soul; nor can I kill my shame; 
No, nor by living can I live it down. 
The days will grow to weeks, the weeks to months, 
The months will add themselves and make the years, 620 
The years will roll into the centuries, 

And mine will ever be a name of scorn. 

- 

I must not dwell on that defeat of fame. 

Let the world be; that is but of the world— 

What else? what hope? I think there was a hope, 625 

Except he mock'd me when he spake of hope; 

His hope he calPd it; but he never mocks, 

For mockery is the fume of little hearts. 

And blessed be the King, who hath forgiven 






GUINEVERE 171 

My wickedness to him, and left me hope 630 

That in mine own heart I can live down sin 

And be his mate hereafter in the heavens 

Before high God! Ah great and gentle lord, 

Who wast, as is the conscience of a saint 

Among his warring senses, to thy knights — 635 

To whom my false voluptuous pride, that took 

Full easily all impressions from below, 

Would not look up, or half-despised the height 

To which I would not or I could not climb — 

I thought I could not breathe in that fine air, 640 

That pure severity of perfect light — 

I yearn'd for warmth and color which I found 

In Lancelot — now I see thee what thou art, 

Thou art the highest and most human too, 

Not Lancelot, nor another. Is there none 645 

Will tell the King I love him tho' so late? 

Now — ere he goes to the great battle? none: 

Myself must tell him in that purer life, 

But now it were too daring. Ah my God, 

What might I not have made of thy fair world, 650 

Had I but loved thy highest creature here? 

It was my duty to have loved the highest; 

It surely was my profit had I known; 

It would have been my pleasure had I seen. 

We needs must love the highest when we see it, or> ; 

Not Lancelot, nor another.' ' 

Here her hand 
Grasp'd, made her vail her eyes: she look'd and saw 



172 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

The novice, weeping, suppliant, and said to her, 
"Yea, little maid, for am / not forgiven?" 
Then glancing up beheld the holy nuns goo 

All round her, weeping; and her heart was loosed 
Within her, and she wept with these and said: 

" Ye know me then, that wicked one, who broke 
The vast design and purpose of the King. 
O, shut me round with narrowing nunnery-walls, 665 
Meek maidens, from the voices crying, ' Shame ! ' 
I must not scorn myself: he loves me still. 
Let no one dream but that he loves me still. 
So let me, if you do not shudder at me, 
Nor shun to call me sister, dwell with you; 670 

Wear black and white, and be a nun like you, 
Fast with your fasts, not feasting with your feasts; 
Grieve with your griefs, not grieving at your joys, 
But not rejoicing; mingle with your rites; 
Pray and be pray'd for; lie before your shrines; 675 
Do each low office of your holy house ; 
Walk your dim cloister, and distribute dole 
To poor sick people, richer in His eyes 
Who ransom'd us, and haler too than I; 
And treat their loathsome hurts and heal mine own; 680 
And so wear out in alms-deed and in prayer 
The sombre close of that voluptuous day 
Which wrought the ruin of my lord the King." 

She said: they took her to themselves; and she 
Still hoping, fearing "is it yet too late?" 685 



GUINEVERE 173 

Dwelt with them, till in time their abbess died. 

Then she, for her good deeds and her pure life, 

And for the power of ministration in her, 

And likewise for the high rank she had borne, 

Was chosen abbess, there, an abbess, lived 690 

For three brief years, and there, an abbess, past 

To where beyond these voices there is peace. 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 

That story which the bold Sir Bedivere, 

First made and latest left of all the knights, 

Told, when the man was no more than a voice 

In the white winter of his age, to those 

With whom he dwelt, new faces, other minds. 5 

For on their march to westward, Bedivere, 
Who slowly paced among the slumbering host, 
Heard in his tent the moanings of the King: 

"I found Him in the shining of the stars, 
I marked Him in the flowering of His fields, 10 

But in His ways with men I find Him not. 
I waged His wars, and now I pass and die 
me! for why is all around us here 
As if some lesser god had made the world> 
But had not force to shape it as he would 15 

Till the High God behold it from beyond, 
And enter it, and make it beautiful? 
Or else as if the world were wholly fair, 
But that these eyes of men are dense and dim, 
And have not power to see it as it is: 20 

Perchance, because we see not to the close; — 
For I, being simple, thought to work His will, 

174 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 175 

And have but stricken with the sword in vain; 

And all whereon I lean'd in wife and friend 

Is traitor to my peace, and all my realm 25 

Reels back into the beast, and is no more. 

My God, thou hast forgotten me in my death : 

Nay — God my Christ — I pass but shall not die." 

Then, ere that last weird battle in the west, 
There came on Arthur sleeping, Gawain kilFd 30 

In Lancelot's war, the ghost of Gawain blown 
Along a wandering wind, and past his ear 
Went shrilling: " Hollow, hollow all delight! 
Hail, King! to-morrow thou shalt pass away. 
Farewell! there is an isle of rest for thee. 35 

And I am blown along a wandering wind, 
And hollow, hollow, hollow all delight !" 
And fainter onward, like wild birds that change 
Their season in the night and wail their way 
From cloud to cloud, down the long wind the dream 40 
ShrilPd; but in going mingled with dim cries 
Far in the moonlit haze among the hills, 
As of some lonely city sack'd by night, 
When all is lost, and wife and child with wail 
Pass to new lords; and Arthur woke and call'd: 45 

"Who spake? A dream. O light upon the wind, 
Thine, Gawain, was the voice — are these dim 

cries 
Thine? or doth all that haunts the waste and 

wild 
Mourn, knowing it will go along with me?" 



176 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

This heard the bold Sir Bedivere and spake : 50 

"0 me, my King, let pass whatever will, 
Elves, and the harmless glamour of the field; 
But in their stead thy name and glory cling 
To all high places like a golden cloud 
For ever : but as yet thou shalt not pass. 55 

Light was Gawain in life, and light in death 
Is Gawain, for the ghost is as the man ; 
And care not thou for dreams from him, but rise — 
I hear the steps of Modred in the west, 
And with him many of thy people, and knights 60 

Once thine, whom thou hast loved, but grosser grown 
Than heathen, spitting at their vows and thee. 
Right well in heart they know thee for the King. 
Arise, go forth and conquer as of old." 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere: 65 

"Far other is this battle in the west 
Whereto we move than when we strove in youth, 
And brake the petty kings, and fought with Rome, 
Or thrust the heathen from the Roman wall, 
And shook him thro' the north. Ill doom is mine 70 
To war against my people and my knights. 
The king who fights his people fights himself. 
And they my knights, who loved me once, the stroke 
That strikes them dead is as my death to me. 
Yet let us hence, and find or feel a way 75 

Thro' this blind haze which, ever since I saw 
One lying in the dust at Almesbury, 
Hath folded in the passes of the world." 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 177 

Then rose the King and moved his host by 
night, 
And ever push'd Sir Modred, league by league, so 

Back to the sunset bound of Lyonnesse — 
A land of old upheaven from the abyss 
By fire, to sink into the abyss again; 
Where fragments of forgotten peoples dwelt, 
And the long mountains ended in a coast 85 

Of ever-shifting sand, and far away 
The phantom circle of a moaning sea. 
There the pursuer could pursue no more, 
And he that fled no further fly the King; 
And there, that day when the great light of heaven 90 
Burn'd at his lowest in the rolling year, 
On the waste sand by the waste sea they closed. 
Nor ever yet had Arthur fought a fight 
Like this last, dim, weird battle of the west. 
A death-white mist slept over sand and sea, 95 

Whereof the chill, to him who breathed it, drew 
Down with his blood, till all his heart was cold 
With formless fear; and even on Arthur fell 
Confusion, since he saw not whom he fought. 
For friend and foe were shadows in the mist, 100 

And friend slew friend not knowing whom he slew; 
And some had visions out of golden youth, 
And some beheld the faces of old ghosts 
Look in upon the battle ; and in the mist 
Was many a noble deed, many a base, 105 

And chance and craft and strength in single fights, 
And ever and anon with host to host 



178 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Shocks, and the splintering spear, the hard mail hewn, 
Shield-breakings, and the clash of brands, the crash 
Of battle-axes on shatter'd helms, and shrieks no 

After the Christ, of those who falling down 
Look'd up for heaven, and only saw the mist; 
And shouts of heathen and the traitor knights, 
Oaths, insult, filth, and monstrous blasphemies, 
Sweat, writhings, anguish, laboring of the lungs ns 
In that close mist, and cryings for the light, 
Moans of the dying, and voices of the dead. 

Last, as by some one deathbed after wail 
Of suffering, silence follows, or thro' death 
Or death-like swoon, thus over all that shore, 120 

Save for some whisper of the seething seas, 
A dead hush fell; but when the dolorous day 
Grew drearier toward twilight falling, came 
A bitter wind, clear from the north, and blew 
The mist aside, and with that wind the tide 125 

Rose, and the pale King glanced across the field 
Of battle: but no man w T as moving there; 
Nor any cry of Christian heard thereon, 
Nor yet of heathen; only the wan wave 
Brake in among dead faces, to and fro 130 

Swaying the helpless hands, and up and down 
Tumbling the hollow helmets of the fallen, 
And shiver'd brands that once had fought with 

Rome, 
And rolling far along the gloomy shores 
The voice of days of old and days to be. 135 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 179 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere, 
And whiter than the mist that all day long 
Had held the field of battle was the King: 

"Hearest thou this great voice that shakes the world, 
And wastes the narrow realm whereon we move, ho 
And beats upon the faces of the dead, 
My dead, as tho' they had not died for me? — 
O Bedivere, for on my heart hath fallen 
Confusion, till I know not what I am, 
Nor whence I am, nor whether I be king; 145 

Behold, I seem but king among the dead." 

Then spake the bold Sir Bedivere: "My King; 
King everywhere! and so the dead have kings, 
There also will I worship thee as king. 
Yet still thy life is whole, and still I live 150 

Who love thee; but who hates thee, he that brought 
The heathen back among us, yonder stands, 
Modred, unharm'd, the traitor of thine house." 

Then spake the King: "My house hath been my 
doom. 
But call not thou this traitor of my house 155 

Who hath but dwelt beneath one roof with me. 
My house are rather they who sware my vows, 
Yea, even while they brake them, own'd me king. 
And well for thee, saying in my dark hour, 
When all the purport of my throne hath faiPd, igo 

That quick or dead thou holdest me for king. 



180 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

King am I, whatsoever be their cry; 

And one last act of kinghood shalt thou see 

Yet, ere I pass." And uttering this the King 

Made at the man: then Modred smote his liege 165 

Hard on that helm which many a heathen sword 

Had beaten thin; while Arthur at one blow, 

Striking the last stroke with Excalibur, 

Slew him, and, all but slain himself, he fell. 

So all day long the noise of battle rolPd 170 

Among the mountains by the winter sea ; 
Until King Arthur's Table, man by man, 
Had fallen in Lyonnesse about their lord, 
King Arthur. Then, because his wound was deep, 
The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him, 175 

And bore him to a chapel nigh the field, 
A broken chancel with a broken cross, 
That stood on a dark strait of barren land : 
On one side lay the Ocean, and on one 
Lay a great water, and the moon was full. iso 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere: 
"The sequel of to-day unsolders all 
The goodliest fellowship of famous knights 
Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep 
They sleep — the men I loved. I think that we iso 

Shall never more, at any future time, 
Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds, 
Walking about the gardens and the halls 
Of Camelot, as in the days that were. 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 181 

I perish by this people which I made, — 190 

Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again 

To rule once more; but, let what will be be, 

I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm 

That without help I cannot last till morn. 

Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur, 195 

Which was my pride: for thou rememberest how 

In those old days, one summer noon, an arm 

Rose up from out the bosom of the lake, 

Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, 

Holding the sword — and how I row'd across 200 

And took it, and have worn it, like a king; 

And, wheresoever I am sung or told 

In aftertime, this also shall be known. 

But now delay not: take Excalibur, 

And fling him far into the middle mere; 205 

Watch what thou seest, and lightly bring me word." 

To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere : 
"It is not meet, Sir King, to leave thee thus, 
Aidless, alone, and smitten thro' the helm — 
A little thing may harm a wounded man; 210 

Yet I thy hest will all perform at full, 
Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word." 

So saying, from the ruin'd shrine he stept, 
And in the moon athwart the place of tombs, 
Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men, 215 

Old knights, and over them the sea-wind sang 
Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping down 



182 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

By zigzag paths and juts of pointed rock, 
Came on the shining levels of the lake. 

There drew he forth the brand Excalibur, 220 

And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon, 
Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth 
And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt; 
For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks, 
Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-work 225 

Of subtlest jewellery. He gazed so long 
That both his eyes were dazzled as he stood, 
This way and that dividing the swift mind, 
In act to throw: but at the last it seem'd 
Better to leave Excalibur conceaPd 230 

There in the many-knotted water-flags, 
That whistled stiff and dry about the marge. 
So strode he back slow to the wounded King. 

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere : 
"Hast thou perforrn'd my mission which I gave? 235 
What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?" 

And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere : 
"I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, 
And the wild water lapping on the crag." 

To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale: 240 
"Thou hast betray'd thy nature and thy name, 
Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd 
Thy fealty, nor like a noble knight; 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 183 

For surer sign had followed, either hand, 

Or voice, or else a motion of the mere. 245 

This is a shameful thing for men to lie. 

Yet now, I charge thee, quickly go again, 

As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing 

I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word." 

Then went Sir Bedivere the second time 250 

Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere, 
Counting the dewy pebbles, fixt in thought; 
But when he saw the wonder of the hilt, 
How curiously and strangely chased, he smote 
His palms together, and he cried aloud : 255 

"And if indeed I cast the brand away, 
Surely a precious thing, one worthy note, 
Should thus be lost for ever from the earth, 
Which might have pleased the eyes of many men. 
What good should follow this, if this were done? 260 
What harm, undone? Deep harm to disobey, 
Seeing obedience is the bond of rule. 
Were it well to obey then, if a king demand 
An act unprofitable, against himself? 
The King is sick, and knows not what he does. 265 

What record or what relic of my lord 
Should be to aftertime, but empty breath 
And rumors of a doubt? But were this kept, 
Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings, 
Some one might show it at a joust of arms, 270 

Saying: 'King Arthur's sword, Excalibur, 



184 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Wrought by the lonely Maiden of the Lake. 

Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps 

Upon the hidden bases of the hills/ 

So might some old man speak in the aftertime 275 

To all the people, winning reverence. 

But now much honor and much fame were lost." 

So spake he, clouded with his own conceit, 
And hid Excalibur the second time, 
And so strode back slow to the wounded King. 280 

Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily: 
" What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?" 

And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere : 
"I heard the water lapping on the crag, 
And the long ripple washing in the reeds/ ' 285 

To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath : 
"Ah miserable, and unkind, untrue, 
Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me! 
Authority forgets a dying king, 
Laid widow'd of the power in his eye 290 

That bow'd the will. I see thee what thou art, 
For thou, the latest-left of all my knights, 
In whom should meet the offices of all, 
Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt; 
Either from lust of gold, or like a girl 295 

Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes. 
Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice, 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 185 

And the third time may prosper, get thee hence: 

But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur, 

I will arise and slay thee with my hands. " 300 

Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran, 
And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged 
Among the bulrush beds, and clutch'd the sword, 
And strongly wheePd and threw it. The great brand 
Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon, 305 

And flashing round and round, and whirPd in an arch, 
Shot like a streamer of the northern morn, 
Seen where the moving isles of winter shock 
By night, with noises of the Northern Sea. 
So flash'd and fell the brand Excalibur; 310 

But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm 
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, 
And caught him by the hilt, and brandished him 
Three times, and drew him under in the mere. 
And lightly went the other to the King. 315 

Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath : 
"Now see I by thine eyes that this is done. 
Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?" 

And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere : 
"Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems 320 

Should blind my purpose, for I never saw, 
Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die, 
Not tho' I live three lives of mortal men, 
So great a miracle as yonder hilt. 



186 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him; 325 
But when I look'd again, behold an arm, 
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, 
That caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him 
Three times, and drew him under in the mere. ,, 

And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard : 330 
"My end draws nigh; 't is time that I were gone. 
Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight, 
And bear me to the margin; yet I fear 
My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die." 

So saying, from the pavement he half rose, 335 

Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm, 
And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes 
As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere 
Remorsefully regarded thro' his tears, 
And would have spoken, but he found not words; 340 
Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee, 
O'er both his shoulders drew the languid hands, 
And rising bore him thro' the place of tombs. 

But, as he walk'd, King Arthur panted hard, 
Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed 345 

When all the house is mute. So sigh'd the King, 
Muttering and murmuring at his ear, "Quick, quick! 
I fear it is too late, and I shall die." 
But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge, 
Clothed with his breath, and looking, as he walk'd, 350 
Larger than human on the frozen hills. 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 187 

He heard the deep behind him, and a cry 

Before. His own thought drove him like a goad. 

Dry clashed his harness in the icy caves 

And barren chasms, and all to left and right 355 

The bare black cliff clang'd round him, as he based 

His feet on juts of slippery crag that rang 

Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels — 

And on a sudden, lo, the level lake, 

And the long glories of the winter moon ! 360 

Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge, 
Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern, 
Beneath them; and descending they were ware 
That all the decks were dense with stately forms, 
Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream — by these 36.5 
Three queens with crowns of gold: and from them 

rose 
A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars, 
And, as it were one voice, an agony 
Of lamentation, like a wind that shrills 
All night in a waste land, where no one comes, 370 

Or hath come, since the making of the world. 

Then murmur'd Arthur, " Place me in the barge." 
So to the barge they came. There those three 

queens 
Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept. 
But she that rose the tallest of them all 375 

And fairest laid his head upon her lap, 
And loosed the shattered casque, and chafed his hands, 



188 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

And caiPd him by his name, complaining loud, 

And dropping bitter tears against a brow 

Striped with dark blood : for all his face was white 380 

And colorless, and like the withered moon 

Smote by the fresh beam of the springing east; 

And all his greaves and cuisses dash'd with drops 

Of onset; and the light and lustrous curls — 

That made his forehead like a rising sun 385 

High from the dais-throne — were parch'd with dust, 

Or, clotted into points and hinging loose, 

Mixt with the knightly growth that fringed his lips. 

So like a shatter'd column lay the King; 

Not like that Arthur who, with lance in rest, 39 

From spur to plume a star of tournament, 

Shot thro' the lists at Camelot, and charged 

Before the eyes of ladies and of kings. 

Then loudly cried the bold P Bedivere: 
"Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go? 395 

Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes? 
For now r I see the true old times are dead, 
When every morning brought a noble chance, 
And every chance brought out a noble knight. 
Such times have been not sin^e the light that led 400 
The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh. 
But now the whole Round Table is dissolved 
Which was an image of the mighty world, 
And I, the last, go forth companionless, 
And the days darken round me, and the years, 405 

Among new men, strange faces, other minds.' ' 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 189 

And slowly answered Arthur from the barge: 
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new 
And God fulfils himself in many ways, 
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. 410 
Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me? 
I have lived my life, and that which I have done 
May He within himself make pure ! but thou, 
If thou shouldst never see my face again, 
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by 

prayer 41. 

Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain for me night and day. 
For what are men better than sheep or goats 
That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer 420 

Both for themselves and those who call them friend? 
For so the whole round earth is every way 
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. 
But now farewell. I am going a long way 
With these thou seest — if indeed I go — 425 

For all my mind is clouded with a doubt — 
To the island-valley of Avilion; 
Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, 
Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies 
Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns 430 
And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea, 
Where I will heal me of my grievous wound/ ' 

So said he, and the barge with oar and sail 
Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan 



190 IDYLLS OF THE KING 

That, fluting a wild carol ere her death, 435 

Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood 
With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere 
Revolving many memories, till the hull 
Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn, 
And on the mere the wailing died away. 

But when that moan had past for evermore, 
The stillness of the dead world's winter dawn 
Amazed him, and he groan'd, "The King is gone." 
And therewithal came on him the weird rhyme, 
"From the great deep to the great deep he goes." 445 

Whereat he slowly turned and slowly clomb 
The last hard footstep of that iron crag, 
Thence mark'd the black hull moving yet, and cried: 
"He passes to be king among the dead, 
And after healing of his grievous wound 450 

He comes again; but — if he come no more — 
me, be yon dark queens in yon black boat, 
Who shrieked and waiPd, the three whereat we gazed 
On that high day, when, clothed with living light, 
They stood before his throne in silence, friends 455 

Of Arthur, who should help him at his need?" 

Then from the dawn it seem'd there came, but faint 
As from beyond the limit of the world, 
Like the last echo born of a great cry, 
Sounds, as if some fair city were one voice 460 

Around a king returning from his wars. 



THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 191 

Thereat once more he moved about, and clomb 
Even to the highest he could climb, and saw, 
Straining his eyes beneath an arch of hand, 
Or thought he saw, the speck that bare the King, 465 
Down that long water opening on the deep 
Somewhere far off, pass on and on, and go 
From less to less and vanish into light. 
And the new sun rose bringing the new year. 



NOTES 

THE COMING OF ARTHUR 

23, 5-19. Ere Arthur came, etc. See " The Arthurian Leg- 
end," Introduction, p. 8. 

24, 39. Brake. See Glossary, p. 208, for obsolete words and 
unusual meanings. What is the subject of brake? 

27, 111-115. Carados, etc. For names of the revolting kings, 
see Malory, Book I, Chap. 10. Chapters 11-15 tell of the battle. 

28, 150. Merlin. Merlin is the sage of Arthur's court, the 
type of earthly wisdom. Read the Idyll, " Merlin and Vivien." 

166. Cuckoo chased, etc. The cuckoo deposits her eggs in 
the nests of other birds. 

32, 261. Vows. Cf. " Guinevere," 464-480. These lines are 
referred to frequently. They state the ideals of Arthur's order 
and are well worth memorizing. For method of memorizing, see 
Introduction, p. 18. 

266-308. The allegorical meaning of the Idylls has been much 
discussed. The young student should approach this phase of 
the work with a mind alert to grasp the deeper meaning, and 
at the same time free from a subserviency that would compel 
him to accept ready-made the conclusions of teachers or of com- 
mentators. One point should be kept clearly in mind: the alle- 
gory is not always consistent. Tennyson himself, when pressed 
for an explanation of the " three fair queens " (1.275, also G. 
L., 225), said: " They mean that [Faith, Hope, and Charity] and 
they do not. They are also three of the noblest women. They 
are also those three Graces, but they are much more. I hate to 
be tied down to say, ' this means that,' because the thought 
within the image is much more than any one interpretation." 
—Memoir, II, 127. 

In general, it is more satisfactory to consider the characters 
of the poem as men and women, to recognize whatever spiritual 
significance may be evident in their actions, and to discern the 
applications of their triumphs and defeats to the world in which 
we live. In The Poetry of Tennyson, Dr. Henry Van Dyke 
writes : 

" We must distinguish, then, between the allegorical frag- 

193 



194 NOTES 

merits which Tennyson has woven into his work, and the sub- 
stance of the Idylls; between the scenery and mechanical ap- 
pliances, and the actors who move upon the stage. The attempt 
to interpret the poem as a strict allegory breaks down at once 
and spoils the story. Suppose you say that Arthur is the Con- 
science, and Guinevere is the Flesh, and Merlin is the Intellect; 
then, pray what is Lancelot, and what is Geraint, and what is 
Vivien? What business has the Conscience to fall in love with 
the Flesh? What attraction has Vivien for the Intellect without 
any passions? If Merlin is not a man, ' Que diable allait-il 
faire dans cette galeref ' The whole affair becomes absurd, unreal, 
incomprehensible, uninteresting. 

" But when we take the King and his people as actual men 
and women, when we put ourselves into the story and let it 
carry us along, then we understand that it is a parable; that is to 
say, it casts beside itself an image, a reflection, of something 
spiritual, just as a man walking in the sunlight is followed by 
his shadow. It is a tale of human life, and therefore, being told 
with a purpose, it 

Shadows Sense at war with Soul. 

" Let us take up this idea of the conflict between sense and 
soul and carry it out through the Idylls." 

For an excellent allegorical interpretation of " The Coming of 
Arthur," see Stopford Brooke: Tennyson, His Art and Relation 
to Modern Life, p. 259 ff., also the Rolfe Edition, Idylls of the King, 
p. 183 ff. See also " The Allegory," Introduction, p. 16. 

33, 282. Lady of the Lake. See note on L. E., 212-226. 

36, 362. Fairy changeling. " The elves that fairies were 
supposed to leave in exchange for the human babies they stole, 
could sometimes be recognized as changelings by their shrivelled 
and shrunken appearance." — Rolfe Edition, Idylls of the King. 

373-5. A ship, etc. Compare the ship which carries the King 
away in " The Passing of Arthur." This account of the coming 
of Arthur, together with Merlin's speech ending with line 410, 
suggests " the deep and favorite thought of Tennyson of the pre- 
existence of the soul." Read the splendid passage in Words- 
worth's " Ode on Intimations of Immortality," beginning: 

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: 
The Soul that rises with us, our Life's Star, 
Hath had elsewhere its setting, 
And cometh from afar. 

37, 402 7 410. Rain, rain, etc. Cf . note on G. L., 280-87, The 
following interpretation is given by Pallen: 






NOTES 195 

" Life has its many vicissitudes, its rain and its sunshine, 
storm and calm, hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, but truth 
abides unchanging, whether it be clothed or naked to human 
eyes. The soul, which is the house of truth, passes through all 
changes of time, all vicissitudes of space, from eternity to eter- 
nity.' ' — The Meaning of the Idylls of the King, p. 33. 

38, 421. Again to come. " Yet some men yet say in many 
parts of England that king Arthur is not dead, but had by the 
will of our Lord Jesu in another place. And men say that he 
shall come again, and he shall win the holy cross. I will not say 
it shall be so, but rather I will say, here in this world he changed 
his life. But men say that there is written on his tomb this verse. 

Iftr \nt?t Artfjurua Urx qmmbam 
Sraqutf fntxmxB. 

Malory, XXI, 7. 

There have been many similar beliefs in the return of great na- 
tional heroes, for example, Charlemagne, Barbarossa, and Tell. 

39, 450. Then was latter April. See note on the year-cycle 
of the Idylls, " Guinevere," p. 203. 

481-501. Blow trumpet, etc. " Lastly, as a piece of glorious 
literature, there is the marriage and coronation song of the 
knights. It was not in the first draft of i The Coming of Arthur.' 
It embodies the thought of the poem, grips the whole meaning 
of it together. And its sound is the sound of martial triumph, of 
victorious weapons in battle, and of knights in arms. We hear 
in the carefully varied chorus, in the very rattle and shattering 
of the vowels in the words, the beating of axe on helm and shaft 
on shield. Rugged, clanging, clashing lines ... it is a splen- 
did effort of art. King Olaf might have sung it." — Stopford 
Brooke. 



GARETH AND LYNETTE 

43, 1. Bellicent is Arthur's sister. See her testimony con- 
cerning him in " The Coming of Arthur," 253-423. 

3. Spate. See Glossary for obsolete words and unusual mean- 
ings. 

17-25. A worse were better, etc. These lines should be mem- 
orized. Gareth is a type of noble idealism. As you proceed, 
mark passages that show this quality. What were his ideals, and 
how far did they affect his actions? 

44, 25. Gawain and Modred are Gareth's brothers. The 



L96 NOTES 

name Gawain is accented on either syllable as the meter demands. 
See " The Passing of Arthur/' 56-7. 

46. Book of Hours. A book of prayers for various hours. 
Such books were often profusely illuminated. 

45, 66. Brand Excalibur. King Arthur's Sword, called brand 
from its flashing. See " The Coming of Arthur," 295-304. 

62-65. Gold, etc. Interpret these lines. What do the gold 
and steel stand for respectively in Gareth's mind? 

46, 76. Barons' war. See " The Coming of Arthur," 62-73, 
100-123. 

85. Give the syntax of thee and of jousts and wars. 

89. Frights. A noun in apposition with shocks and tourney 
falls. 

115-118. Memorize. Read aloud so as to bring out Gareth's 
meaning. 

47, 119. Many who deem him not, etc. Many doubted 
Arthur's royal descent. See " The Coming of Arthur," 177-236. 

48, 141. Who. The personal pronoun immediately preced- 
ing a relative is often omitted by Tennyson. 

49, 173-4. Waken'd by the wind, etc. Cf. In Memoriam, 
XCV, last three stanzas. 

50, 185. Camelot is probably the site of Queen-Camel in 
Somerset. Efforts to localize scenes of The Idylls of the King, 
however, are generally not worth while. 

" There is not one touch of the real world in all the scenery 
that Tennyson invents in his poem. It belongs throughout to 
that country which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, but which 
the heart of man has imagined." — Stopford A. Brooke. 

" Of course Camelot for instance, a city of Shadowy Palaces, 
is everywhere symbolic of the gradual growth of human beliefs 
and institutions, and of the spiritual development of man." — 
Tennyson, Memoir II, 127. 

51, 212-226. The Lady of the Lake symbolizes Religion. 

" The forms of the church are forever changing and flowing 
like water, but her great arms are stretched out immovable like 
the cross." 

The drops of water represent baptism; the sword represents 
the spiritual weapons of the soul; and the censer, " human prayer 
and sacrifice." The fish was a symbol of the early Christians; 
Arthur's wars center around Religion, and typify the endless 
conflict between good and evil. For the three queens (1. 225), 
see note on the allegory, C. A., 266-308. 

222. Time were nothing. The war of the soul centering in 
Religion is eternal. 

52, 238-47. Is this the truth? 



NOTES 197 

248-74. Gareth's followers represent those who believe 
nothing but their senses; the King here symbolizes the Soul; and 
the city symbolizes moral and spiritual culture, qualities be- 
yond the comprehension of the mere senses. The fairy kings 
and queens, possibly symbolizing science and art, came from the 
East. Merlin holds with the idealists that the King, the Soul, is 
the only reality, and urges that men shall bind themselves by 
spiritual vows, vows impossible to keep because they represent 
ideals, which always rise beyond any present attainment. If they 
are unwilling to take these vows, let them remain outside the spir- 
itual city, " among the cattle of the field." The city, built to 
the music of this divine harmony, is never completed, although 
constantly in process of construction. 

Do you expect Gareth to take the vows or remain outside 
among the cattle? Why? 

249-51. I have seen, etc. To what optical illusion does Mer- 
lin refer? 

53, 266. Vows. By all means memorize " Guinevere," 464- 
480. 

280-87. Riddling of the Bards. Cf . [' The Coming of Arthur," 
402-10, also the note on same. Merlin is purposely unintelligible. 
The truth seems mockery to you because you do not understand 
it. Gareth must accept some things on faith. Idealism is often 
incompatible with the scientific spirit of doubt which demands 
proof. Oracles arc notoriously vague. Compare the prophesy 
that Athens should find safety in her wooden walls. 

54, 308-9. The Idyll, " Gareth and Lynette," portrays the 
court before the sin of Lancelot and Guinevere has corrupted 
the social order. Cf. 320-25. Lines 310-430 show the justice 
of the King. See " The Theme of the Idylls," Introduction, p. 15. 

56, 367. Aurelius Emrys, Uther, former kings. Cf. " The 
Coming of Arthur," 13-19. 

58, 400. Rose. What is its subject? 
419. Churl. Cf. In Memoriam, CXI. 

59, 444-5. Wan-sallow, root-bitten. Note Tennyson's de- 
scriptive compounds. Cf. long-vaulted, 312, high-arching over- 
browed the hearth, 400. 

451. Lancelot. King Arthur's chief knight. 

Whereat the two, 
For each had warded either in the fight, 
Sware on the field of death a deathless love. 
And Arthur said, Alan's word is God in man: 
Let chance what will, I trust thee to the death. 

"The Coming of Arthur," 129-33. 



I 



198 NOTES 

60, 465. Sir Fair-hands. The English meaning of Beaumains, 
which was Malory's nickname for Gareth. 

473. What innate dissimilarity of spirit is there between Kay 
and Gareth? Are they types of real people? 

61, 490. Caer-Eryri. Snowdon. The line refers to another 
legend concerning the birth of Arthur. 

492. Isle Avilion. The earthly paradise of the Britons; lit- 
erally, island of apples. 

62, 528. Peter's knee. Cf . Matthew, XVI, 18-19. 

63, 557-9. What is Arthur's ideal? Does Gareth need the 
admonition? 

64, 579-608. W T hat characteristics are revealed by Lynette's 
words? 

65, 586. Best blood. The sacramental wine. 

66, 632-7. Why does not Gareth assert his rank? 

67, 665. This . . . that. Adjective pronouns. One servant 
bore a blank shield and helmet, the other held the horse and 
spear. 

68, 692. Bound. Give the syntax. 

69, 697-9. Belike, etc. To whom does Kay refer in these 
lines? 

720-34. Is Lynette a " snob "? Wherein are her standards 
different from those of an American girl? 

72, 771. Spit. See Glossary. Why does Lynette use this 
word? 

73, 805-7. But at night, etc. An allusion to the superstition 
that ghosts were permitted to " walk the night." Give par- 
allels. 

811. For the deed's sake, etc. Cf. Ruskin's discussion of 
u Advancement in Life " in the first part of Sesame and Lilies. 

74, 829. Peacock. Often served at splendid feasts. When 
it was served, " all the guests took a solemn vow; the knights 
vowing bravery, and the ladies engaging to be loving and faith- 
ful." — Stanley, History of Birds, quoted by Rolfe. 

76, 884. River. In the allegory the river typifies time; Sir 
Morning Star, the temptations of youth. 

899. See that he fall, etc. What covert insult to Gareth is 
there in these lines? 

79, 971. Lynette's songs are interesting examples of feminine 
self-contradiction. While they reveal to the reader a change in 
her feelings toward her valiant champion, she intensifies the bit- 
terness of her upbraidings. 

80, 1002-6. The flower that blows, etc. What flower does 
he mean? What significance has its color? 

1005-7. Gareth's eyes had flying blots, etc. Cf. 



NOTES 199 

And on the splendor came, flashing me blind; 
And seemed to me to be the Lord of all the world, 
Being so huge. 

"The Holy Grail," 413-15. 

What is the allegorical significance of the golden shield and of 
the battle fought in mid stream? 

81, 1032-57. What half conscious argument is Lynette hold- 
ing with herself? 

82, 1039. Perchance. Perchance what? 

83, 1067. Harden'd skins. The hardened skins are the hab- 
its of a lifetime. See 1100-4. Trace out as much of the allegory 
as you can from the hint in the note to 1. 884. 

85, 1117. Loud South we sterns, etc. This is one of Tenny- 
son's marvelous pictures of nature. Mark and memorize others 
as you find them. 

14 As the showers descend from heaven to return to it in va- 
pour, so Mr. Tennyson's loving observation of Nature and his 
muse seem to have had a compact of reciprocity well kept on 
both sides." — W. E. Gladstone, London Quarterly Review, 
Oct., 1859. 

1133-41. Is your attitude toward Lynette changed by these 
lines? 

86, 1163. Comb. A bowl-shaped hollow or valley inclosed on 
all sides but one by steep cliffs. — Century Dictionary. 

87, 1172. Vexillary. Standard bearer. This passage refers to 
inscriptions on the cliffs near the river Gelt. 

1175. Five figures. Possibly the senses. Why? 

1179. The hermit's cave. What does the hermit's cave mean, 
and why does man seek shelter there? This passage states 
broadly the theme of the Idylls. 

88, 1199-1202. What is the dramatic purpose of Gareth's an- 
nouncement of his name and rank? 

1210-14. Analyze for clause structure and then read aloud 
so as to bring out the meaning. What is the subject of had sent 
in 1. 1213? 

91, 1286-88. Cf. 1263-5. Why does Lynette wish the change 
to be made? 

92, 1323-50. What makes the last knight so much more terri- 
ble than the others? Judging by this passage and by the remainder 
of this Idyll, what do you think was Tennyson's idea of death? 

95, 1392. He that told, etc. Sir Thomas Malory. See his 
Morte D 1 Arthur, Bk. VII, 34 and 35. 

1394. He that told it later. Tennyson. Which version do 
you prefer? 



200 NOTES 



LANCELOT AND ELAINE 

97. What change is coming over Elaine as portrayed in the 
first twenty-seven lines? 

100, 92. Urged. What is the subject? 

101, 121-35. Is there any excuse for Guinevere's feelings 
toward her husband? 

132. He is all fault, etc. Cf . 

Faultily faultless, icily regular, splendid null, 
Dead perfection, no more. 

Mmide, I, 82-3. 

102, 157. They prove to him his work. Cf. 1. 129. Note 
Guinevere's allusions to Arthur's great life work and determine 
her attitude to it. In all of Guinevere's criticism of Arthur, 
what do you think is the one fault she feels most keenly? What 
really is the trouble with the King? Has she a right to com- 
plain? 

103, 163. Lost in fancy. Can you suggest any of Lancelot's 
possible fancies? 

105, 235. Full courtly, yet not falsely. Explain. 

236-40. If what is fair, etc. Explain his meaning. Is this 
compliment or flattery? 

242. Won by the mellow voice. Is the voice an index of char- 
acter and culture? Watch some of the people you know best for 
your answer. 

244-59. What difference between the moral and spiritual con- 
dition of Lancelot and the one who " had been the sleeker for 
it? " 

106, 262. Not with half disdain, etc. Did you ever see illus- 
tration of half disdain? Compare Ga wain's attitude in 642 ff. 

270. Suddenly speaking. Why does Lancelot change the 
subject? 

107, 279. Badon hill. Possibly in Dorsetshire. The loca- 
tion is uncertain. This is the only one of the battles authenti- 
cated by history. 

"It is certain that a victory of the Britons at Mount Badon 
in the year 520 not only checked the progress of the West-Saxons, 
but was followed by a general pause in the English advance." — 
J. R. Green. 

297. Wild White Horse. The emblem of the Saxon in- 
vaders. 

108, 314-316. The fire of God. 






NOTES 201 

"Sir and my liege," he cried: "the fire of God 
Descends upon thee in the battle-field : 
I know thee for my King." 

Said by Lancelot, " The Coming of Arthur/' 127-9. 

329-37. His face before her lived, etc. This passage was 
suggested to Tennyson by the ideal of a true portrait painter ex- 
pressed by George Frederick Watts in a conversation with the 
poet. Watts' s painting of Sir Galahad is one of the best known 
illustrations connected with the Idylls. 

110, 380-2. Has Elaine a right to hope that Lancelot wears 
her favor for any other reason than for the perfection of his own 
disguise? 

112, 422. Pendragon. A title conferred upon British chiefs 
in times of great danger, when they were invested with dictato- 
rial powers. A golden dragon was the symbol. Cf . 1. 432. 

423. Mysteriously. Referring to the stories of Arthur's ori- 
gin, and to the prophecies of his destiny: 

Tho' men may wound him that he will not die, 
But pass, again to come. 

"The Coming of Arthur," 421-2. 

430. Clear-faced. Can you suggest a reason for this partic- 
ular epithet here? 

113, 453. Held the lists. The knights of the Round Table 
acted as a defensive party against all comers. Cf. the tourna- 
ment at Ashby in Ivanhoe. 

454-458. See Introduction, p. 13. 

114, 480-84. As a wild wave, etc. Note Tennyson's allu- 
sions to the sea. Cf. G. L., 1117-19. 

119, 617. He won. Who says this? 

619. What is indicated by the different ways in which Guin 
evere and Elaine receive the news of Lancelot's wound? 

640. Note the philosophical nature of his conclusions; con- 
trast with Lancelot at Astolat, 260-68. 

120, 642-6. He set himself to play upon her, etc. Cf. 260-4. 
648. Loyal. Why does Elaine use this word? 

666. Does Elaine, with a woman's intuition, detect the insin- 
cerity of Gawain's attentions, or is she innocently unconscious of 
his flirtatious wooing? 

121, 677. Whom he loves. Why does not Elaine follow up 
this hint? 

122, 706-9. Did Gawain really believe that he was doing an 
honorable thing in relinquishing the quest? Write a character 
sketch of some man you know of the Gawain type. 

710-13. How much effect has the King's rebuke on Gawain? 



202 NOTES 






123, 726. She. Who? 

728. Marr'd. What is the subject of this verb? 

734. Smiled at each other. What is the significance of these 
words? 

126, 831-37. What is Lancelot's attitude toward Elaine's love? 
Ought he to have sent her away? 

128, 871-2. Honor rooted in dishonor, etc. A Tennysonian 
paradox. True to whom? Why falsely true? 

129, 923. Explain the meaning of the line. 

132, 991-96. What is poetry? If it cannot be defined, it at 
least can be illustrated by such passages as this. The pupil 
should mark them, and read them aloud until they are pecul- 
iarly his own. Concerning memorizing, see Introduction, p. 18. 

1000-11. Tennyson's muse is essentially lyric. Nowhere in 
literature, not even excepting Shakespeare, are there more beauti- 
ful " drops of song " interspersed in longer works. Every student 
should read the lyrics in The Princess. E. C. Stedman says of 
them: 

" The songs, added in the second edition of this poem, reach 
the high- water mark of lyrical composition. Few will deny that, 
taken together, the five melodies: ' As through the land,' ' Sweet 
and low,' ' The splendor falls on castle walls,' ' Home they 
brought her warrior dead,' and ' Ask me no more! ' — that these 
constitute the finest group of songs produced in our century." 

Should not Mr. Stedman have included " Tears, idle tears "? 

133, 1015. Phantom of the house. The Banshee, a phantom 
that was supposed to shriek before a death in the family to which 
it was attached. 

134, 1042-4. So let me hence, etc. Can you think of a 
deeper meaning that Tennyson may have had in these lines? 

1047. Fine. What special significance here? 

135, 1079-93. Why does Elaine refuse to believe the slander? 
Compare the Queen's jealous love. 

138, 1160. Diamonds. What is the syntax? 

1165-69. What do these lines show concerning the attitude 
of the court toward the Queen and Lancelot? Cf . 1. 734. 

139, 1178. Tawnier than her cygnet's. The cygnet or young 
swan has yellow or tan-colored down. 

1183. Rumors. What rumors? 

1197-1225. Does the Queen still acknowledge her love for 
Lancelot? Does she suffer more from wounded pride or from the 
thought of lost affection? How far has she thought out this in- 
terview beforehand? Why does the Queen say, " have your joys 
apart " (1. 1210)? What is the one thing she feels that she Can- 
not do? 



NOTES 203 

1201-4. Cf. 121 ff., also " Guinevere," 607-656. 

140, 1206. Your own. Your own what? 
1207-8. The value of all gifts, etc. Cf. 

To the noble mind 
Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. 

Hamlet, III, i, 100-1. 

1209. Fancy. What peculiar force has this word here? 

141, 1243-5. The face that men shape, etc. Read Haw- 
thorne's " The Great Stone Face." 

142, 1264-74. What dramatic purpose does Elaine's letter 
serve? 

145, 1345-62. " It would seem as if the saddest thing in all 
Lancelot's life must have been his feeling toward Arthur. Had 
he (Lancelot) been wholly a traitor at heart, he would have de- 
spised him, or hated him, or both. But he still reveres him and 
still loves him." — Tainsh, A Study of Tennyson's Works, p. 218. 

1354. Homeless trouble. Cf. 244-6. Arthur alone does not 
know the cause. 

146, 1382-6. Does Lancelot feel that his sin is the cause of 
Elaine's death? Does he admit it to himself? 

1386-90. Give the literaj meaning. Does Lancelot really 
question the genuineness of the Queen's affection? 

1389. Where have we seen " the crescent fear for name and 
fame? " 

147, 1405-7. Look for a parallel in " Guinevere." 
1409-16. Compare the irresolution of Godfrey Cass in Silas 

Marner. 

1412-16. Why is not this a proper prayer? Wherein does 
Lancelot fall short of true repentance? Cf. " Guinevere," 371-5, 
also Hamlet, III, iii, 36-72. Is Lancelot's remorse a permanent 
state of mind? Does it make for righteousness? What do you 
see in the last hundred lines that is worthy of comment? Write 
a paragraph giving from your own observation an illustration of 
the idea in 11. 1406-7. 



GUINEVERE 

148. The Year-Cycle of the Idylls. " The Coming of Ar- 
thur ' is on the night of the new year; when he is wedded ' the 
world is white with May; ' on a summer night the vision of the 
Holy Grail appears; and the Last Tournament is in the ' yellow- 
ing autumn-tide.' Guinevere flees through the mists of autumn, 
and Arthur's death takes place at midnight in midwinter." — 



204 NOTES 

Tennyson's note in the Memoir, II, 133. Of course the time of 
the story covers many years. 

2. Almesbury. Amesbury, near Salisbury. An abbey church 
still stands on the supposed site of an ancient British monastery. 

149, 14. With silent smiles, etc. Cf . Pope's lines on Addison. 

149, 15. Lords of the White Horse. See note on L. E., 297. 
16. Hengist. One of the Saxon chieftains who invaded Britain. 
22. Plumes that mocked the May. White like hawthorn blos- 
soms. 

24. All ear and eye. Cf. L. E., 936. 

150, 56. I shudder, etc. An old superstition. The Queen 
with a woman's intuition fears Modred. 

62. Modred's narrow foxy face. Cf . 

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; 
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous. 

Julius Ceesar, I, ii, 196. 

64-91. The Powers that tend the soul, etc. Is Tennyson true 
to life in giving to the woman the firmer moral purpose? Has he 
heretofore shown Guinevere to be more troubled in conscience 
than Lancelot? Is her determination due to conscience or to 
fear? 

74. held. What is the subject? 

80. What is the significance of her shadow? 

154, 166-77. See the parable of the ten virgins, Matthew 
XXV, 1-13. 

156, 229-268. The child's talk is a recapitulation of the story 
of " The Coming of Arthur " as it may be supposed to have 
settled in the popular imagination. 

" The solemn and fateful strain of the poems is for a moment 
relieved by a passage where with vigorous play of fancy and a 
just use of the preternatural, the merry life of the court and realm 
of Arthur before guilt had come to taint it is described." — 
W. E. Gladstone, London Quarterly Review, Oct., 1859. 

157, 243-4. Mermaiden, man-breasted things. See Tenny- 
son's poems, " The Merman," and " The Mermaid." 

246-7. Cf. " The Bugle Song " in The Princess. 

158, 289. Bude and Bos. Districts of Cornwall. 

159, 294. By miracle. Arthur drew from a stone a sword 
that no other knight could move. Morte D J Arthur, I, 3. 

300-305. Cf. 

I touch the chords of joy, but low 
And mournful answer notes of woe. 

Scott, The Lady of the Lake, II, 124-5. 



NOTES 205 



160, 333-4. Cf. 



P'or who can always act? but he, 

To whom a thousand memories call, 

Not being less but more than all 
The gentleness he seemed to be, 

Best seem'd the thing he was, and join'd 

Each office of the social hour - 

To noble manners, as the flower 
And native growth of noble mind. 

In Memoriam, CXI. 

340. Why does the Queen continue to talk with the novice? 

162, 370-5. Surely I repent, etc. Why is Guinevere's spirit- 
ual condition here healthier than Lancelot's in L. E., 1409-16? 

375. What is the meaning of the repetition of the words, " to 
see him more "? 

163, 405. Is the Queen honestly repentant? 

163, 419-523. Is there any part of this passage that you 
would omit? Do the King's ideals center around the kingdom 
or the home? 

419-656. In those two superb speeches to his sinful wife, and 
in the Queen's lament beginning, " Gone — my lord! " Tennyson 
has risen to more sublime heights of poetry than elsewhere in 
•the Idylls. There are many other beautiful passages, unsur- 
passed descriptions, subtle delineations of character, — 

jewels five-words-long 
That on the stretch'd forefinger of all Time 
Sparkle forever, 

but nowhere is there a passage so sustained in dramatic interest, 
so truly pathetic, nor so charged with the deepest human sym- 
pathy as this. Its effect is like that of the sleep-walking scene 
in Macbeth after which the Doctor exclaims, " God, God for- 
give us all! " 

165, 483. Has the Queen been jealous of the King's devotion 
to his work? Cf. L. E., 129 ff., also note on L. E., 157. 

167, 536. Is past. What is the subject? 
537. Pang. What is its predicate? 

168, 574. Event. Give the Latin derivation. Lines 419-523 
show the King; 529-577, the man. Which passage is more ef- 
fective? Why? ' 

170, 624. That. What? 

608-56. What is the one thought to which the Queen clings 
as her hope of regeneration? 



206 NOTES 

Arthur places the whole blame for the wreck of his home upon 
Guinevere and she accepts it all. Do you agree that he is blame- 
less? 

171, 631. Cf. 370-75. 

" No one, we are persuaded, can read this poem without feel- 
ing when it ends, what may be termed the pangs of vacancy — 
of that void in heart and mind for want of its continuance of 
which we are conscious when some noble strain of music ceases, 
when some great work of Raphael passes from the view, when we 
lose sight of some spot connected with high associations, or when 
some transcendent character upon the page of history disappears, 
and the withdrawal of it is like the withdrawal of the vital air." — 
W. E. Gladstone, London Quarterly Review, Oct., 1859. 

THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 

174, 9-28. Arthur is puzzled by a world-old problem. He has 
honestly striven " to work His will," and now he sees his efforts 
overwhelmed by evil, — 

I waged his wars, and now I pass and die. 

In the midst of his despair, however, he sees one hope, — 
Perchance, because we see not to the close. 

Cf. Psalms, LXXIII, 12-13. 

12. Pass. Pass away; sometimes used as an equivalent for 
die, again in an indefinite sense, as in 28. 

175, 26. Reels . . . beast. Cf. " The Coming of Arthur," 
10-12. 

33. Hollow, hollow all delight. Why should Gawain be the 
one to bring this message? 

The vague suggestiveness of this Idyll is one of the masterly 
touches of the poet. The ghostly message of Gawain with its 
sepulchral, " Hollow, hollow all delight," the simile of the " wild 
birds that wail their way from cloud to cloud," and the " last, 
dim, weird battle in the death- white mist " are all pervaded with 
the atmosphere of the inevitable hour, and with uncertain visions 
of the world to come. For the cultivation of responsiveness to 
the real essence of poetry there is no better means than the mem- 
orizing of such passages. 

176, 68. Brake the petty kings, etc. Arthur was the first 
to unite the petty kings under one rule, and to repudiate the 
payment of tribute to Rome. Cf. " The Coming of Arthur," 
5-19, also 504-13. 



I 



NOTES 207 

69. The Roman wall was a line of fortifications extending 
from the Sol way to the Tyne to repel the Picts and Scots. 
90-91. See note on the Year-Cycle, " Guinevere/ ' p. 203. 

178, 117. Voices of the dead. Cf. 1. 103. 

179, 155. Call not ... of my house. Call not this traitor 
a member of my family. 

157. Cf. Matthew XII, 50. 

180, 170. This line is the beginning of Tennyson's early 
poem, Morte D' Arthur, published in 1842. " Balin and Balan," 
the last of The Idylls of the King, was published in 1885. 

181, 191-2. Merlin sware, etc. Cf. " The Coming of Ar- 
thur/' 418-23. 

195-203. See note on G. L., 66. 

197-201. An arm rose up, etc. Cf. " The Coming of Ar- 
thur," 294-308. 

182, 233. Strode he back slow. Why slow? 

238-9. Could the participles lapping and washing be inter- 
changed without loss? 

183, 256-77. Is this argument true to human nature? 
262. Obedience. Cf. L. E., 713. 

184, 278. Clouded, etc. Bedivere's sense of duty becomes 
clouded by his own arguments. 

185, 301. Why quickly and ran? 

187, 354-60. Note the contrast between the harsh and broken 
music of 354-8, and the liquid alliteration of 359-60. 

188, 403. Image of the mighty world. " Also Merlin made 
the Round Table in tokening of the roundness of the world, for 
by the Round Table is the world signified by right." — Malory, 
Morte D' Arthur, Bk. XVI, ch. 2. 

187, 427. Avilion. See note on G. L., 492. 
428-31. Cf. Isaiah, XXXV, 9-10; also Revelations, XXI, 4. 
469. The new year. See note on the Year-Cycle, " Guin- 
evere," p. 203. 









GLOSSARY 


affiance 


. L. 


E. 


1346 


trust 


agaric 


. G. 


L. 


729 


fungus. See foul fleshed 


allow 


. L. 


E. 


201 


pardon 


allowed of 


. L. 


E. 


110 


approved by 


an . . 








if (used often with this meaning) 


anon 


; g. 


L. 


193 


soon 


Arthur's H 


arp G. 


L. 


1281 


a constellation, probably the 
Great Bear 


Avanturine 


. G. 


L. 


908 


(a-van'tu rin) a variety of feld- 
spar spangled with mica 


avoid 


. G. 


L. 


733 


go away 


bar . . 


. . G. 


L. 


152 


the buttery bar, across which 
food was handed from the 
kitchen 


belike 


. G. 


L. 


697 


likely 


black-stolec 


1 . P. 


A. 


365 


black robed 


blazoned 


. G. 


L. 


398 


given in heraldic colors 


boon 


. G. 


L. 


327 


favor, privilege 


braided 


. L. 


E. 


8 


embroidered 


brake . 


. C. 


A. 


39 


broke, obsolete or poetic form 


brand . 


. C. 


A. 


119 


sword, called brand from its 
flashing 


brewis . 


. G. 


L. 


447 


broth 


broach . 


. G. 


L. 


476 


spit, a small bar on which meats 
were roasted before an open 
fire 


brook . 


. G. 


L. 


287 


endure 


burns . 


. G. 


L. 


90 


streams 


burthen 


. L. 


E. 


898 


the refrain of a song 


but . . 


. G. 


L. 


104 


only 


casque . 


. G. 


L. 


665 


helmet 


cate . 


. G. 


L. 


827 


dainty viand 


catiff . 


. G. 


L. 


779 


base, cowardly 


charlock 


. G. 


L. 


380 


(char '16k) wild mustard 


charm . 


. G. 


L. 


84 


allure 


churl 


. G. 


L. 


419 


low-born fellow 


clomb . 


. G. 


L. 


56 


climbed, obsolete or poetic form 
208 



GLOSSARY 



209 



colewort 
comb 



cuirass . . . 
cuisses . . . 
divisings . . 
devoir . . . 
did their days 
in stone 



dole 
dole 
donn'd 
downs 



G. 
G. L. 



L. E. 
P. A. 
G. L. 
L. E. 

G. L. 

G. 

L. E. 
G. L. 
L. E. 



dragon bought s G. L. 
drave . G. L. 

enow . . . C. A. 
evensong . G. L. 
fain . . . . L. E. 
favor . . . L. E. 



for . . . 
foul fleshed 

agaric 
frontless 
gave upon 
ghostly 
glamor . 
good lack 
grace 
greaves 



C. A. 

G. L. 
G. L. 
G. L. 
L. E. 
G. L. 
G. L. 
G. L. 
P. A. 



guerdon . . G. L. 
gyve and gag G. L. 



32 
1163 



293 

383 

1314 

118 

298 

677 

1129 

675 

162 

229 
201 
252 
773 

767 
356 



41 

729 
839 
651 
1092 
202 
105 
951 
383 

810 
362 



had . . . 


. G. L. 


366 


haler . . 


. G. 


679 


hern . . 


. G. L. 


1155 


Hesperus . 


. G. L. 


1174 



cabbage 

a bowl-shaped hollow or valley 
enclosed on all sides but one by 
steep cliffs. Cent. Diet. 

breastplate 

armor for the thighs 

skill, tactics 

duty, respectful notice 

carved records of their deeds in 

stone 
alms 
grief 
put on 
rolling land not covered by 

forests 
coils of the dragons' tails 
archaic past of drive 
enough 

the time of evening service 
glad 
a gift from a maiden to her knight, 

worn by him in battle to show 

that he was fighting for her 
because 

ill smelling fungus 

shameless 

opened upon 

spiritual 

enchantment 

a mild oath 

favor 

armor for the lower part of the 
legs 

reward 

gyve, fetter; gag, a mouth cover- 
ing which prevents speech. 
This is an allusion to the duck- 
ing stool used as a punishment 
for scolding women. 

would have, as often in Tennyson 

healthier 

heron 

evening star 



210 






GLOSSARY 


hest . . 


. P. 


A. 


211 


command 


hold . . 


. G. 


L. 


584 


stronghold 


holden 


. C. 


A. 


213 


held 


holp . . 


. C. 


A. 


141 


help. Obsolete, cf. holpen 


holt . . . 


. G. 


L. 


729 


woods 


housel . . 


. G. 




147 


sacrament 


instant 


. G. 


L. 


1318 


urgent 


jousts . . 


G. 


L. 


85 


(justs) tournaments or mock 
battles 


knaves . . 


G. 


L. 


151 


the old meaning of boys or serv- 
ants. Cf. Julius Caesar IV, 3, 
270 


leash . . 


G. 


L. 


51 


three. Three hounds were usu- 
ally held by a single thong or 
leash. Hence the word came 
to be used for three. 


Lent-lily . 


G. 


L. 


889 


daffodil 


lets . . . 


L. 


E. 


94 


hinders 


lief . . . 


P. 


A. 


248 


beloved 


lightly 


G. 


L. 


934 


quickly, a frequent use 


lissome 


G. 




28 


lithesome 


loon . . 


G. 


L. 


751 


stupid fellow 


mage . . 


C. 


A. 


279 


magician 


mavis . . 


G. 


L. 


1052 


thrush 


mere 


G. 


L. 


778 


(mer) a small stagnant lake or 
pool 


Meridies . 


G. 


L. 


1174 


midday 


merle . . 


G. 


L. 


1052 


blackbird 


meseems . 


G. 


L. 


832 


obsolete or poetic for it seems to 


mien . . 


G. 


L. 


443 


me 
appearance 


Mors . . 


G. 


L. 


1175 


death 


narrow seas 


L. 


E. 


1312 


the English Channel 


Nox . . 


G. 


L. 


1175 


night 


of a doubt 


P. 


A. 


268 


doubtful. Cf. " Thieves of 
mercy/' Hamlet IV, 6, 18 


offices . . 


P. 


A. 


293 


duties 


oriel . . 


L. 


E. 


1170 


a window projecting from the 
wall and supported by brackets 


part . . 


C. 


A. 


392 


depart. Cf. pass, L. E. 1084 


pass . . 


L. 


E. 


1084 


die. See note on P. A. 12. 


Phosphorus 


G. 


L. 


1174 


morning star 


pricked 


G. 


L. 


1190 


spurred 


puissance . 


C. 


A. 


17 


power, strength 


purport 


G. 


L. 


603 


purpose 






quest . . . 


G. L. 


535 


search 


quit . . . 


L. E. 


939 


reward 


ramp ."■ . . . 


G. L. 


1273 


rear on hind legs 


rathe . . . 


L. E. 


338 


early 


reave . . . 


G. L. 


411 


deprive 


roundelay . . 


G. L. 


496 


a song containing a recurring line 


ruth . . . 


G. L. 


873 


pity 


samite . . 


L. E. 


431 


(sam'ite) heavy silk cloth 


scaur . . . 


L. E. 


53 


(skar) a steep slope or cliff 


seized of . . 


G. L. 


351 


possesses 


seneschal . . 


G. L. 


359 


old or chief servant 


shoulder slipt 


G. L. 


740 


with shoulder put out of joint 


shrift . . . 


G. 


147 


absolution after confession 


shrive . . . 


L. E. 


1093 


make confession and receive ab- 
solution 


simples . . 


L. E. 


857 


medical plants 


slipt her at . 


L. E. 


653 


sent her to pursue 


sometime . . 


L. E. 


1265 


formerly 


sooth . . . 


G. L. 


1146 


truth 


sorcery . . 


G. L. 


201 


magic 


spate . . . 


G. L. 


3 


a sudden flood or freshet 


spit . . . . 


G. L. 


771 


a small bar on which meats were 
roasted before an open fire, 
here of course for lance 


standeth seizec 








of ... . 


G. L. 


351 


holds possession of 




fG. L. 
\ L. E. 


176, 


) Tennyson uses this word fre- 


still .... 


933, 


[ quently in the Elizabethan 
J sense of always. 




1 etc. 




stoat . . . 


G. L. 


871 


ermine 


straitn'd . . 


L. E. 


870 


restrained, bound 


tale . . . 


L. E. 


91 


count, number. Cf. tally, teller 


tarns . . . 


G. L. 


489 


mountain lakes 


tarriance . . 


L. E. 


567 


delay 


thrall . . . 


G. L. 


162 


one who runs errands, hence a 
servant or slave 


throughly . . 


G. L. 


1372 


an Elizabethan word used inter- 
changeably for thoroughly 


tinct . . . 


L. E. 


10 


color 


trefoil . . . 


G. L. 


1130 


three-leaved clover 


trick out . . 


G. L. 


1355 


adorn, dress up 


troth and feal- 








ty ... . 


G. 


439 


loyalty and allegiance 


unhappiness . 


G. L. 


749, 


ill luck, mischance 


unsolders . . 


P. A. 


182 


disunites 



212 






GLOSSARY 


vert . . 


. C. 


A. 


274 


green 


villain . . 


. G. 


L. 


157 


one of the lowest social rank. 
An extremely interesting word. 
See Cent. Diet. 


wan-sallow 


. G. 


L. 


444 


colorless 


ward . . 


. G. 


L. 


1072 


place of guard 


ware . . 


. P. 


A. 


363 


aware 


weald . . 


. G. 




127 


wild. Sometimes applied to a 
section in the S. E. of England 


wit . . . 


. C. 


A. 


279 


wisdom. Cf. the verb as, e. g., in 
L. E. 766 


worship 


. L. 


E. 


1316 


honor 


wot . . 


. G. 


L. 


1299 


knows 


yield . . 


. G. 


L. 


18 


reward, as often in Shakespeare 






QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 

The following questions cover the general intent, moral pur- 
pose, character study, and present-day application of the Idylls. 
Some of them cannot be answered without studying the entire 
cycle of poems, and it is hoped that the use of these questions 
may encourage pupils to read the Idylls as a whole. 

1. What is meant by the theme of a poem? 

2. What is the theme of The Idylls of the King f (See Introduc- 

tion, p. 15.) 

3. Without reproducing the story, show the relation of each of 

the Idylls studied to the theme. 

4. In the complete cycle, how does Tennyson make the transi- 

tion from " Gareth and Lynette" to "Lancelot and Elaine" 
less abrupt? (See pp. 96-97.) Have you read the inter- 
vening poems? 

5. Contrast the effect of the sin in the court upon individuals 

as shown in "The Marriage of Geraint" and "Geraint 
and Enid" on the one hand, and "Balin and Balan" and 
"Lancelot and Elaine" on the other. 

6. If you have read "The Holy Grail," "Pelleas and Ettare," 

and "The Last Tournament," show the similarity in char- 
acter between Gareth and Pelleas, and the contrast be- 
tween the conditions in the court at the time of their 
coming. 

7. What was the fundamental cause of the change in the court? 

8. What would be the probable effect of the moral environment 

of the court in each period upon a young man of high 
ideals? 

9. Name any Gareths you know in modern public life who have 

kept the ideal to "live pure, speak true, right wrong," etc. 
213 



214 QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 

10. Contrast the social ideals shown in "Gareth and Lynette" 

with those of to-day. 

11. By references to "The Holy Grail" and to the other Idylls, 

give arguments for or against the proposition that Lancelot 
was sincere in his efforts to find the Holy Grail and to 
purify his soul. 

12. Was Tennyson in sympathy with a person who seeks self- 

perfection by withdrawing from the world? (Read the 
last 18 lines of "The Holy Grail.") 

13. Was Lancelot honestly devoted to Arthur and his work, in 

the first two Idylls? 

14. How does Lancelot feel about his false excuse for not ac- 

companying the King to the Tournament in "Lancelot 
and Elaine"? 

15. Who shows the firmer moral sense in "Lancelot and Elaine," 

Lancelot or Guinevere? 

16. In "Lancelot and Elaine," does Lancelot feel that he is 

wrecking the great purpose of the King? Support your 
answers by reference to the poems. 

17. Wherein does Lancelot's soliloquy in "Lancelot and Elaine," 

11. 1382-1416, fall short of true repentence? Has any man 
a right to make such a prayer as that in 11. 1412-1416? 
Give reasons for your answer. 

18. Why are we not shocked by the violation of conventionality 

in Elaine's declaration -of her love for Lancelot? Compare 
Miranda in Shakespeare's The Tempest,- III, i. 

19. Compare the manners of Lancelot and of Gawain at Astalot. 

20. What was Gawain's single object in life? Can you name any 

similar characters in fiction? Have you known any real 
people of similar natures? What were the feelings of their 
- associates- -toward them? - - -- - 

24. -What'-special-siguificance is "there in -the word wandering 

.-.,--' -(C.-A,, L-32)? - . - ^ - 

22. What significance is there in Gawain's final verdict -on life 

(P. A,, 11. 33-40}? How would Lancelot's verdict differ? 

23. By reference to "Lancelot and Elaine," show Guinevere's 



k» a«M 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 215 

attitude toward the King's great purpose. Has she any 
reason for feeling less interest in it than Lancelot feels? 

24. Do you blame Arthur for his absorption in the work of per- 

fecting the kingdom? Wherein did he fail in his duty to 
Guinevere? Was this failure excusable? 

25. Would the glory of the kingdom have brought any credit to 

Guinevere? 

26. Was Arthur devoted to his work for personal or for philan- 

thropic reasons? 

27. Is there any suggestion in the Idylls that Tennyson saw any 

failure on Arthur's part? 

28. Do you sympathize more with Arthur or with Guinevere? 

29. What was the attitude of the knights towards Arthur's effort 

to cleanse the realm, in "The Coming of Arthur" and 
"Gareth and Lynette"? What changes in their attitude 
do you see in "Lancelot and Elaine," "The Last Tourna- 
ment," and "Guinevere"? 

30. What passages in the Idylls suggest Tennyson's religious be- 

lief? What was his attitude toward death? 

31. By references to the poems, justify the statement that 

Tennyson has used a sixth-century historical setting, a 
mediaeval chivalry, and nineteenth-century social ideals. 

32. Name some of the most dramatic scenes in the poems. 

33. Give some of the best descriptions of people. Of nature. 

34. Repeat your favorite short passage; your favorite sustained 

passage; the part of the allegory that appeals to you most 
strongly. 

35. Whom do you consider the most human character in the 

Idylls? Give reasons for your answer. 

36. Has your attitude toward poetry been changed by the study 

of the Idylls? If it has, what is the nature of the change? 

37. Do you intend to read again the Idylls studied? 

38. Have you read Enoch Arden, The Lotus Eaters, The Princess 1 

Do you know also Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott, Sir 
Galahad, Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere, and In the 
Children's Hospital? 




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